On March 1–31, in the Official Documents Department (room 207) is open an exhibition "Water for the XXI century", dedicated to the World Water Day.
This Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly on 22 December, 1992 (resolution 47/193) and is observed annually on 22 March.
The idea of the World Water Day was first announced at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro. All countries were invited to carry out on this day special activities aimed at the conservation and development of water resources. At the same time it was decided to dedicate the every year’s event to one particular topic. The theme of the World Water Day 2016 is “Water and Jobs”.
Water is the basis of human life and one of the most valuable natural resources, without which human existence would be impossible. Water has a special place among all the compounds. It plays a pivotal role in a variety of processes and phenomena of animate and inanimate nature, as well as in human activity.
Although 70% of the earth’s surface is covered by water, 97.5% of them is salt water. Of the remaining 2.5% is fresh water, almost 68.7% frozen water – ice caps and glaciers. Only 1% of the total volume of the planet’s water resources is available for human use.
Water consumption is constantly increasing every year, and the world’s fresh water reserves continue to dwindle rapidly. All this is caused by the environmental pollution, high rate of population growth, low water management, lack of sustainable consumption, low efficiency of water use and insufficient investment in infrastructure.
Today, about 700 million people in 43 countries suffer a shortage of water. By 2025, a similar problem will face more than 3 billion people. According to UN forecasts, by the middle of the XXI century the shortage of fresh water will become one of the major problems of mankind as a potential shortage of fresh water in 2050 is estimated at 2 billion cubic meters per year. Not only a shortage of drinking water, but also its quality arouses anxiety. Experts estimate that the contaminated water kills more people than wars.
Therefore, the world community faces the acute problem of the protection and conservation of water resources of the planet.
Environmentalists of all countries celebrate the World Water Day to draw public attention to the state of water bodies and issues related to their restoration and protection, the safe water supply for human health and sustainable water use. On this day mass actions to protect water bodies, tours, conferences, competitions, workshops and exhibitions are held.
Belarus has a rich and diverse water resources. In our country a great attention is paid to the problems of conservation and multiplication of rational use of water resources. Belarus supports international water initiatives aimed at co-operation, security and sustainable development of all countries.
The exhibition presents over 100 documents in Russian and English languages: books, periodicals, mimeographed materials, brochures and booklets.
The exposition includes the following thematic sections:
- Water resources of the world, their state and use.
- International legal instruments for the protection, conservation and use of water resources.
- International watercourses: protection and management of transboundary water resources.
- Water scarcity as a global problem. Water and food security.
- Use, state and protection of water resources in the Republic of Belarus.
The exhibition will be of interesting to scientists, students, postgraduates, specialists in hydrology, environmental economics, environmental protection and all those interested in the problems of the environmental protection of water resources.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
