This year's World Water Day focuses on the central promiseof the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: as sustainabledevelopment progresses, everyone must benefit.

Globally, 2.1 billion people live without safe water at home. 80% of the people who have to use unsafe and unprotected water sources live in rural areas. Women and girls are responsible for water co­llection in eight out of ten households with water off their premises and around 159 million people collect their drinking water from surface water, such as ponds and streams. These facts demonstrate how essential engagement in the water sector is and how far-reaching the impact of international work can be.

Marginalised groups – women, children, refugees, indigenous communities, disabled people and many others – are often overlooked and sometimes face dis­crimination as they try to access and manage the safe water they need. To “leave no one behind”, we must focus our efforts on including people who have been ignored. Water services must meet the needs of marginalised groups and their voices must be heard in decision-making processes.

Not only GOPA Group companies, but also our donors, focus on integrating locals in the project cycle. The involvement of citizens in the project planning and implementation processes helps to raise awareness and sustainably realise projects. Within the next few years the challenges in the water sector will not become less significant. The threat of climate change is so ubiquitous that the topic “leaving no one behind” is as important as ever. Let´s keep this topic in mind while working on our world´s challenges!