United Nations celebrates every March two days with a special relevance for human rights: International Women´s Day and World Water Day. These are two anniversaries that defend rights and that are directly related, as one cannot advance without the other in many areas around the world where the lack of access to water and sanitation condemns women and girls to an undignified, unhealthy and uncertain existence.

One year ago, on World Water Day 2016, the We Are Water Foundation launched #NoWalking4Water with the main goal of setting off a viral campaign through social networks to raise awareness on an international basis of this injustice affecting millions of women around the world. In order to strengthen the scope and impact of the message, all people wishing to participate in this campaign are invited to download an image of a 20-litre water drum from the website, take a picture with it and share it on social networks. The campaign fully entered Instagram, with over 8.1 million pictures, reaching 8 million users that generated around 78.000 likes.

As already done in 2016 and along with the online campaign, the We Are Water Foundation launched the campaign #NoWalking4Water with the goal of raising international awareness of this injustice affecting millions of women and girls. At every meeting point, all visitors, summoned through the website and the social networks, were invited to take a picture with a 20-litre drum and make it viral later on to support this cause.

In Spain, different meeting points were set up in Madrid and Barcelona. Leading names from the world of cinema, music or sports joined the campaign, strengthening its message, such as Javier Bardem, Joan Manuel Serrat, Laia Sanz and Carles Puyol.

In Russia, the action was supported by the TV presenter Irena Ponaroshku, the actress Galina Bob and the writer Aleksandr Mazurov. In Bulgaria, famous local artists supported the campaign with their image holding the can, sharing it on social networks: the artist Yoana Bukovska, the journalist Niki Kunchev and the actress Dilyana Popova. In Europe, other meeting points were set up in Warsaw, Bucharest, Lisbon and Prague.

In London, apart from spreading the message of the campaign # NoWalking4Water, another awareness-raising message was shared, indicating how to save water by taking a 4-minute-long shower using timers that were donated by the Roca London Gallery.

In America, meeting points were set up in the United States, Brazil and Argentina. In Asia, a mural was installed in a school with 1700 students in Dubai and in India, the actions were very effective in the dissemination of the message, reaching over 1.5 million in Facebook and Twitter. 

The debates organised by the We Are Water Foundation on World Water Day focused on the issues of waste water, the access to water and its responsible use. In Buenos Aires, a meeting was organised with architects and engineers of the Central Association of Architects (SCA), the Professional Association of Civil Engineers (CEPIC) and the company Aysa (Argentinian Waters and Sanitation). During the debate, the goals and projects of the We Are Water Foundation were addressed, as well as the lack of access in some areas in Argentina, always within the framework of the responsible use of water.

Another initiative to be highlighted was the event organised at the Roca Shanghai Gallery in relation to the campaign #NoWalking4Water. Green Initiatives collaborated with this event and students from The SMIC Private School , doTERRA Essential Oils, Solidaridad, Tongji University, Unep and The Global Timeswere summoned. 

In Barcelona, the round table “Reuse of water. Are we ready?” , gathered the engineer Juan Mateo Horrach Torrens, associate professor at the University of the Balearic Islands, Gonzalo Delacámara, academic director of the Water Economy Forum, Santi Serrat, editor of the We Are Water Foundation and Xavier Torras, director of the We Are Water Foundation, who were moderated by Pedro Pablo García, deputy director of EFE Verde, at the Roca Barcelona Gallery

Video summary of the round table “Reuse of water. Are we ready?”, at the Roca Barcelona Gallery.

In Madrid, on the occasion of the presentation of the iAgua Magazine 14 on the 21^st March, Carlos Garriga, project manager of the We Are Water Foundation, participated in the round table Sanitation for all. A matter of dignity.  During his intervention, Garriga declared: “Without water or sanitation all other human rights are impossible”, an all-encompassing thought in all meetings organised by United Nations on World Water Day.