Happy World Water Day! This year’s theme of water and energy reflects one of USAID’s top priorities. In this issue of Global Waters, we explore some of the ways that the Agency is boosting food security, health, and livelihoods by improving management of water and energy.

In resource-scarce Jordan, USAID teaches children about the importance of saving water and energy through a lively interactive Children’s Museum exhibit, while in Cambodia, USAID helps farmers boost their yields through conservation farming. All over the world, USAID is working with entrepreneurs, scientists, and other innovators to develop sustainable new water and energy technologies.

It can be awe-inspiring to see the ripple effect of this work. In this issue’s In Focus story, we look at two USAID-supported dams in Pakistan that not only protect villagers from ruinous floods, but also provide hundreds of thousands with electricity, water for food, and water for health. We also take readers to post-civil war Liberia, where a USAID Food for Peace program is not only improving WASH, nutrition, and agricultural productivity, but also fostering reconciliation and empowering Liberians to band together to lift up their communities.

In this month’s Perspectives piece, Chris Kosnik, the acting director of the Water Office, proclaims that integrated approaches like these hold the key to a more secure, sustainable future, saying, “USAID is committed not only to creating healthy communities, but to sustaining them. We want people to not only survive, but to thrive. Integrated water programs are one means of achieving these goals.”

We hope you enjoy this issue of Global Waters and that you take the opportunity this World Water Day to examine these issues and more with your colleagues.

The Water Office

waterteam@usaid.gov