Rivers Connect Us All: Embracing the Vital Role of Rivers!

World Rivers Day is celebrated on the fourth Sunday of September every year to increase

public awareness about rivers and to encourage their conservation. The day celebrates

Earth's waterways, in which over 60 countries participate every year. The theme of the

World Rivers Day 2023 is “The Importance of Rivers to Biodiversity”.

In 2005, Mark Angelo, an internationally-celebrated river conservationist, approached the

United Nations during its Water for Life campaign — a decade-long initiative to raise

awareness about threatened water resources across the planet. Angelo advocated for an

annual World Rivers Day to help anchor the campaign.

How Rivers Safeguard Our Planet and Contribute to Achieving United Nations Sustainable

Development Goals (UNSDGs).

1. -> No poverty – supporting rural livelihoods by mitigating soil erosion and flooding;
2. -> Zero hunger – through sustainable food production, agroforestry, and preventing soil
3. erosion;
4. -> Clean water and sanitation – through pollutant trapping and bioremediation;
5. -> Affordable and clean energy – utilizing modern biomass and hydropower energy
6. generation;
7. -> Sustainable cities and communities –reducing risk and safeguarding cultural
8. heritage;
9. -> Climate action – through land-based climate mitigation and afforestation;
10. -> Life on land – maintaining habitats and biodiversity.