How much water does it take to turn on a light? It took 10,000 litres to make your jeans. Another three big bathtubs of water was needed for your two-eggs-toast-coffee breakfast this morning.
When the General Assembly unanimously adopted the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) back in 2000, water and sanitation were reduced to a subtext - never a stand-alone goal compared with poverty and hunger alleviation.
What has education, science and culture to do with one of the world's most scarce and finite resources?
Plenty, says the United Nations, which has designated the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as the lead agency to promote the 2013International Year of Water Cooperation (IYWC).
Amidst growing new threats of potential conflicts over fast-dwindling water resources in the world's arid regions, the United Nations will commemorate 2013 as the International Year of Water Cooperation (IYWC).