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World Water Day 2011 will be celebrated in Cape Town from 20 - 22 March 2011.
Download the Second Announcement >>
The African Ministers' Council on Water (AMCOW) is pleased to join UN-HABITAT and UN-Water in co-organizing the official World Water Day 2011 event. Ceremonies will be hosted by the Government of South Africa at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
This is the first time in human history that most of the world's population live in cities: 3.3 billion people ...and the urban landscape continues to grow.
38% of the growth is represented by expanding slums, while the city populations are increasing faster than city infrastructure can adapt.
The objective of World Water Day 2011 is to focus international attention on the impact of rapid urban population growth, industrialization and uncertainties caused by climate change, conflicts and natural disasters on urban water systems.
This year theme, Water for cities: responding to the urban challenge, aims to spotlight and encourage governments, organizations, communities, and individuals to actively engage in addressing the defy of urban water management.
Did you know...? Facts and figures about water and cities (part 2) in honor of the upcoming World Water Day- Every second, the urban population grows by 2 people.
- 95% of the urban expansion in the next decades will take place in the developing world.
- In Africa and Asia, the urban population is expected to double between 2000 and 2030.
- Between 1998 and 2008, 1052 million urban dwellers gained access to improved drinking water and 813 million to improved sanitation. However, the urban population in that period grew by 1089 million people and thus undermined the progress.
-One out of four city residents worldwide, 789 million in total, lives without access to improved sanitation facilities.
-497 million people in cities rely on shared sanitation. In 1990, this number was 249 million.
- 27% of the urban dwellers in the developing world do not have access to piped water at home.
The section "Did You Know…?" is taken from the UN-Water Decade Programme on Advocacy and Communication (UNW-DPAC) publication "Water and Cities: Facts and Figures".
