Celebrating World Water Day (2026) 🌍

Last Sunday, I oversaw a discussion on Channels TV, Africa’s leading news broadcaster. A comedian named Governor Amuneke (his stage name) mentioned a satirical issue related to government corruption. He recounted witnessing local villagers in Nigeria drinking from contaminated sources. While it may seem trivial, water contamination is a reality for many Nigerians lacking access to clean water.

My awareness of World Water Day began a few years ago when I started donating to Water.org, Matt Damon’s charity. Matt helps underprivileged communities in emerging economies develop low-cost solutions that improve communal outcomes at the village and community levels. I was impressed by their model. That year, Matt gave a compelling talk (I think in Senegal) explaining Water.org’s concept and delivering a captivating elevator pitch. Around the same time, I was in Camberwell Library preparing for an interview for my website. I was reading about Prof. Daniel Erian Armanios’s work and discovered a study on communities of practice and his research on improving village water infrastructure in Egypt using these community practices. Little did I know my donations to Water.org would eventually lead to my blog sponsoring Matt’s campaign, something I’m passionate about. I encourage others to participate by donating. Matt’s campaign is for a great cause and can benefit many people.

I may just be a postgraduate, but a few days ago I stumbled upon a valuable article on the ‘shallow lake problem’ (Wagener, 2013). This theoretical concept posits a hypothetical lake, communally owned but slowly being polluted by its owners’ production activities. It reminded me of Armanios’ idea of Communities of Practice. Exploring shallow lake theory led me to a Management and Sustainability school’s website in a quintessential American county. The professor’s blog on the importance of an allied context to the shallow lake problem didn’t resonate with me but I appreciated his attention to the issue. Perhaps my expectations were too high and I was being overly demanding.

This lack of knowledge transfer in my experience as a blogger sparked my curiosity about previous World Water Day conferences. I began questioning whether governments and investors are doing enough. Enough to spread their message, enough to communicate the challenge to the people, enough to educate. Then and there, I realised I haven’t been doing my bit. Not for Govenor Amuneke, not for Daniel Armanios, not for Matt Damon, not even for myself. This World Water Day, I am therefore committing to reignite the enthusiasm I once had for the enduring and important investments being channeled by investors into the right places. I didn’t have to write this blog, but I wanted to show appreciation to the people who are holding me accountable for my work. Thank you for your efforts.

Happy World Water Day!