Chisinau - Three days of educational and recreational activities organized by IOM Moldova begin today, bringing together Moldovan children and Ukrainian refugee children  to celebrate World Water Day, March 22.

It is happening in collaboration with schools, municipalities, ministries of environment and infrastructure and regional development and bureau of public health.

Water is life. Water is peace. Water is a basic right.

"Water is also friendship"¸ says Andreea, 13 years old, from the Moldovan city of Orhei, while making new friends from Ukraine.

“Water is magical, it is a source of life, we cannot live without water,” Serghei, 7, Ukrainian, says enthusiastically, after carrying out some experiments with water that he has just learned about during an information session.

“Water droplets make friends with each other, just like we do," laughs Xiusa, 6 years old, from Odesa, after meeting Elena, a Moldovan girl, during a drawing session.

The activities took place in three cities in Moldova. In Orhei, it took place in a building managed by a local NGO that welcomes women victims of violence and homeless people who, despite the start of spring, still have to protect themselves from the cold and snow.

At the Ungheni Palace of Culture, a project to plant trees in the park in front of the building took place, coupled with some water purification awareness sessions and at the Mihai Eminescu High School. In the city of Otachi, a few kilometers from the Ukrainian border, the mayor addressed a world water day event noting IOM Moldova had supported the municipality by restoring an old pumping station that serves more than 6,000 inhabitants every day.

The theme for World Water Day 2024 is “Water for Peace.” 

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World Water Day celebrates water and raises awareness of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water. It is about taking action to tackle the global water crisis. A core focus of World Water Day is to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.