Coordinating the UN's work on water and sanitation

2019: a year with focus on indigenous people and marginalized groups

The theme for World Water Day 2019, celebrated on 22 March, is ‘Leaving no one behind’.
This is an adaptation of the central promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: as sustainable development progresses, everyone must benefit. Today, billions of people are still living without safe water. Marginalized groups are often overlooked, and sometimes face discrimination, as they try to access and manage the safe water they need. For example, indigenous peoples across the world consistently lag behind on wellbeing indicators such as access to water supply.

2019 is also the International Year of Indigenous Languages, that aims to focus attention on the risks confronting indigenous languages, especially those significant for development, reconciliation, good governance and peace building. It aims to improve quality of life, wider international cooperation and visibility and strengthened intercultural dialogue to reaffirm the continuity of indigenous languages and cultures.

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