UNICEF to celebrate International Water Day in 23 Iraqi schools Tuesday

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has decided to celebrate, in cooperation with the European Union on Tuesday, the International Water Day, in 23 Iraqi schools, in order to put an end to the wasting of water, amid difficulties to secure drinking water for 91% of Iraqi families by the year 2015.   “The International Water Day is celebrated every year, in order to direct light on the significance of pure water and the call for the continuous administration for the water,” the UNICEF’s Media office source told IraqiNews.com news agency.   “The UNICEF this year, in cooperation with the European Union, has decided to carry out celebrations in 23 schools in different parts of Iraq, to be attended by 11,000 primary school children, being part of the call for investment in the country’s infrastructure for water resources, putting an end for wasting water and insuring to keep it free from pollution,” he said. He said that three decades of wars, armed conflicts, sanctions and ignoring the infrastructure, had deteriorated the water resources administration in Iraq , thing that had undermined efforts to put an end for the wasting of water, elimination of poverty, hunger and securing the safety of environment.   “The percentage of an average Iraqi family’s getting safe drinking water had deteriorated over the past 20 years, as this percentage had dropped by 10% out of 87% in 1986 and to 77% in 2006,” he said, adding that Iraq’s daily production size of water had reached 7.2 million cubic meters, or an average of 327 liters per person, being a high average per capita.   On this occasion, the UNICEF has called on the “Iraqi families to become an active partner to avoid the waste of water resources in Iraq , being the responsibility of all parents, whether they were fathers or mothers.   RT / SKH 469