Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) is celebrating World Water Day with environmental activities to support international efforts to protect natural resources. World Water Day takes place every 22 March and this year’s theme is ‘Better water, better jobs.’ World Water Day raises awareness about the importance of sustainable development.
“As part of our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and to achieve the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to achieve sustainable development in the Emirate, supporting the Dubai Plan 2021 to transform Dubai into a clean, healthy, and sustainable city with clean environmental elements, and in line with our vision to become a sustainable innovative world-class utility, DEWA is committed to annually celebrate this occasion, renewing our commitment to the rational use of natural resources and contributing to finding sustainable solutions to limit usage, and achieve sustainable development economically, socially, and environmentally,” said HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA.
“The National Innovation Strategy, launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, will make the UAE one of the most innovative nations in the world, and focuses on seven national sectors to stimulate innovation. These include encouraging innovative solutions to the challenge of water scarcity,” added Al Tayer.
DEWA’s World Water Day celebrations continued for 4 days from 19 March. During Earth Hour, DEWA highlighted the importance of water conservation by leading workshops about water resources. DEWA is also promoting this with electronic interactive games, via the Shazam app under the theme ‘Every Drop Matters,’ and showed a video on their campaign to promote water conservation. DEWA participated in the SIKKA Art Fair, which was organised by Dubai Culture at Al Bastakiya on 22 March. During the fair, DEWA highlighted the importance of rationalising its use as shown in various works of art, and also promoted the UAE Water Aid Foundation (Suqia) via its stand at SIKKA.
DEWA also cooperated with the We Are Water Foundation (Roca) to organise an awareness day in JBR, Dubai. This focused on the importance of conserving water to contribute to better lifestyles and jobs. During the event, a large photo wall was set up, which illustrated the struggle faced by people who have to walk long distances to collect water. The public was encouraged to participate by carrying large containers filled with water, taking a photo, and sharing it on social media with the hashtag #NoWalkingforWater. In support of this issue, DEWA launched the ‘Every Drop Matters’ campaign, to highlight the best international practices for reducing water waste and ensuring its sustainability, for generations to come.
DEWA continuously organises awareness programmes and innovative initiatives, and presents awards to encourage the community to adopt a positive approach to the rational use of water in their daily lives. DEWA saved 5.6 billion imperial gallons of water between 2009 and 2015.
The United Nations’ fifth report warned that several areas across the world are now facing water scarcity. 20% of stored water is being used excessively, and by 2050, 2.3 billion people will be living in regions that suffer from extreme water scarcity, such as North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia.
According to the report, over 1.1 billion people lack clean, sustainable water, while 2.6 billion people lack major sewerage systems. Pollution, and the scarcity of water are both issues caused by people.
The international demand for water will increase from 4,500 billion cubic meters to 6,900 billion cubic meters in 2030. A third of the population in most developing countries live in areas where water shortages amount to over 50%. This demand will be met by developing traditional ways of producing water, and making use of new resources, although this will not be enough to meet major requirements to tackle water scarcity.
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