21 July 2015: The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s International Hydrological Programme (UNESCO-IHP) is celebrating 50 years of water-related achievements with ‘50 Years, 50 Movies on Water,’ a film screening at the Open UNESCO exhibition.

The films focus on freshwater and water-related challenges and solutions around UNESCO-IHP’s thematic areas: water-related disaster and hydrological changes; groundwater; water scarcity and quality; water and human settlements of the future; ecohydrology; and water education for water security.

UNESCO launched the screenings on 25 June with a session on water education that addressed youth participation in the Seventh World Water Forum and a video on the importance of using soap in handwashing, which promoted awareness of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) issues. The second session focused on ‘Water and Human Settlements of the Future’ and discussed urban development and water resources as well as the International Year for Water Cooperation.

’50 Years, 50 films’ will take place every other Thursday in the Open UNESCO exhibition space at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, through 12 November. UNESCO-IHP is an intergovernmental programme focused on water research, water resources management, capacity building and education. It promotes an interdisciplinary, integrated approach that also includes the social dimension of water resources, to watershed and aquifer management. [UNESCO Press Release] [Programme] [UNESCO-IHP Website]