DOZENS of people marked World Water Day on Saturday at the UN Plaza in Katutura, Windhoek, where a senior Government official stressed the importance of water conservation.

Abraham Nehemia, Under Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, said: "We need to ensure the quality and quantity of Namibia's water is safeguarded against misuse and all kinds of pollutants in order to continue sustaining the generations to come".

Water defines and confines aspirations for human, social and economic development in most parts of the world because "not having access to enough, clean water makes survival and further development impossible".

Nehemia said not having enough water means the world will not be able to achieve its Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people living without safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015.

"Namibia is the driest country within southern Africa and we have to live with very little and unpredictable rainfall, just as this year's rainy season has shown," said the Under Secretary.

He described the Third World Water Forum in Kyoto, Japan, where international water specialists and decision makers have been meeting to discuss global water challenge, as a "key event" of the UN-declared International Year of Freshwater.

The theme for this year's World Water Day is 'Water for the Future'.

Pohamba Shifeta, Secretary General of the National Youth Council (NYC), said "for a country as dry as ours, this day is of paramount importance. It is well known that our water resources are currently not sufficient to satisfy our national needs".

"Therefore it is particularly appropriate for us as citizens of this country to individually as well as collectively consider our attitudes towards water and the way we use it," he said.

Shifeta appealed to Namibians to treat each day as if it was World Water Day.