Hakim Hayat

World Water Day has been held on March 22 every year since 1993, focussing on the importance of fresh water.

As water is an essential building block of life, each year, World Water Day is celebrated to raise public awareness about the significance of fresh water and sustainable management of this significant resource.

On this occasion, here’s a look at this year’s theme, history, and the significance of World Water Day.

World Water Day celebrates water and raises awareness of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water. It is about taking action to tackle the global water crisis. A core focus of World Water Day is to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.

In order to accelerate efforts towards meeting water-related challenges, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly declared 2018-2028 as the International Decade for Action: ‘Water for Sustainable Development.’

The objectives of the decade focus on the sustainable development and integrated management of water resources for the achievement of social, economic and environmental objectives and on the implementation and promotion of related programmes and projects, as well as on the furthering of cooperation and partnership at all levels in order to help to achieve internationally agreed water-related goals and targets, including those contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The decade also highlights the importance of promoting efficient water usage at all levels, taking into account the water, food, energy, environment nexus; and stresses the importance of the participation and full involvement of all relevant stakeholders, including women, children, young people, older persons, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and local communities.

GROUNDWATER, MAKING THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE

This year, the focus is groundwater, an invisible resource with an impact visible everywhere.

Groundwater is water found underground in aquifers, which are geological formations of rocks, sands and gravels that hold substantial quantities of water. Groundwater feeds springs, rivers, lakes and wetlands, and seeps into oceans. Groundwater is recharged mainly from rain and snowfall infiltrating the ground. Groundwater can be extracted to the surface by pumps and wells.

Life would not be possible without groundwater. Most arid areas of the world depend entirely on groundwater. Groundwater supplies a large proportion of the water we use for drinking, sanitation, food production and industrial processes.

It is also critically important to the healthy functioning of ecosystems, such as wetlands and rivers.

They must be protected from overexploitation – abstracting more water than is recharged by rain and snow – and the pollution that currently haunts them, since it can lead to the depletion of this resource, extra-costs of processing it, and sometimes even preventing its use.

Exploring, protecting and sustainably using groundwater will be central to surviving and adapting to climate change and meeting the needs of a growing population.

HISTORY OF WORLD WATER DAY

The idea for this international day of celebration goes back to 1992, the year in which the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro took place. That same year, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution by which March 22 of each year was declared World Day for Water, to be observed starting in 1993.

Later on, other celebrations and events were added. For instance, the International Year of Cooperation in the Water Sphere 2013, and the current International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development 2018-2028. These observances serve to reaffirm that water and sanitation measures are key to poverty reduction, economic growth, and environmental sustainability.

WE MUST ACT NOW

Brunei Darussalam is blessed with adequate water resources for daily consumption. However, due to low water tariffs, the availability of clean water is often taken for granted, leading to water wastage and overconsumption.

According to the Department of Water Services, Ministry of Development, with water consumption in the country averaging 380 litres per person per day, Brunei Darussalam’s domestic water consumption is the highest in the region, double that of Singapore.

With a government subsidy of up to 88 per cent, treated water in Brunei Darussalam is inexpensive and readily available. However, users need to understand and acknowledge that raw water treatment and supply is a complex process which includes raw water extraction, water treatment by filtration and chemical processes, storage and transport to terminal storage tanks, service storage tanks and finally to the end users.

We must act now to ensure sustainable water use. It takes very little effort to instil good water habits from the home, yet small changes can make a big impact. Such changes at home include turning off faucets when not in use, taking showers instead of baths, shortening shower durations and taking urgent action to repair any leaks.

HERAT, AFGHANISTAN (AFP) – In the middle of a bazaar in western Afghanistan, Arezo Akrimi takes out her smartphone and, after a few taps of the screen, changes some cryptocurrency for a bundle of hard cash.

Arezo, 19, is one of a hundred students in Herat receiving around USD200 a month in cryptocurrency since September thanks to an American NGO Code To Inspire.

This sum, which she converts at a bureau de change into Afghanis, is crucial for the rent and to help feed her family of six.

Since the Taleban returned in August, Afghanistan’s economy has virtually collapsed and the country is in the grip of a crisis caused by the seizure of billions of dollars of assets held abroad.

But digital currencies and their decentralised architecture, impervious to international sanctions, are allowing a handful of young Afghans to avoid the worst of the crisis.

“It was very surprising for me to learn that this could be used in Afghanistan,” Arezo told AFP.

“It was really helpful.”

Code To Inspire was founded to teach computer programming to women in Herat, but its hi-tech approach is now also helping students get funds in the economically deprived nation.

Bank transfers to Afghanistan are almost impossible currently, to prevent funds from falling into the hands of Islamist fundamentalists.

But even those with money in a bank struggle to get it out – individuals are limited to withdrawing the equivalent of USD200 a week, and businesses USD2,000.

Customers have to queue for hours even for those transactions.

Cryptocurrency transfers have allowed the NGO to circumvent these obstacles while ensuring that each donation gets to those who need it most, founder Fereshteh Forough told AFP.

“Crypto is an incredible way to overcome all kinds of political and economic sanctions, but also a tool that can change the lives of people living in an authoritarian regime,” says the American, whose parents fled Afghanistan in the 1980s.

To guarantee the financial security of its students, the NGO avoids paying them in bitcoins, the best-known cryptocurrency but whose price regularly swings wildly.

Instead, it favours the BUSD, a so-called “stablecoin” whose price is backed by the dollar.
“One BUSD is one dollar,” says Forough.

Beyond this humanitarian initiative, cryptocurrencies are gaining other followers in Herat, according to forex dealer Hamidullah Temori.

He has seen an influx of new customers over the past six months, many of whom regularly come to convert cryptoassets sent by relatives from abroad into Afghanis.

“Since the Taleban came to power (cryptocurrency) transfers to and from abroad have increased by 80 per cent,” he told AFP.

Transfers are instantaneous and commissions are much lower than transactions made through Western Union or hawala, the over-the-counter system traditionally favoured by Afghans.

In Kabul, Noor Ahmad Haidar has become a crypto convert by force of circumstance.

The young man, who started exporting saffron to the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada in early 2021, now has 90 per cent of his orders paid for in bitcoins.

“I avoid going through the chaotic process of bank transfers,” he says.

“Since August, it has really become the only option available, and the most convenient for me.”

Its growing popularity in Afghanistan was noted by Chainalysis in its 2021 Global Cryptocurrency Adoption Index, which ranked the country 20th out of 154 countries for “grassroots take-up”.

“I don’t think it’s just in response to the Taleban taking over,” says Kim Grauer, the firm’s director of research.

“It’s also because we’re at a time when there are more solutions that allow you to trade cryptocurrencies on your phone and more people understand what it is.”

Still, while the momentum is growing the volume of trading remains very low, and will remain so due to the lack of Internet access and high levels of illiteracy in Afghanistan, she says.

But for those who can venture into this world, cryptocurrencies could be a lifeline.