Every drop counts, every life matters.

Water is so present in our lives that we often forget its true importance. It quenches thirst, produces the food that reaches our table, protects our health, makes the fields flourish and sustains all life on Earth. It is such an essential resource that imagining a single day without water already seems impossible to us.

When we turn on a faucet and see the water flowing, we rarely stop to think about the miracle before us.

However, for millions of people around the world, access to safe water remains a daily challenge. Recent data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF show that many health facilities still face difficulties in accessing basic water, sanitation and hygiene services. Between 2015 and 2025, global coverage of basic water services increased from 76 per cent to 85 per cent, basic hygiene services from 55 per cent to 72 per cent, and basic waste management services from 59 per cent to 71 per cent.

But even so, in the twenty-first century, there are places where a simple medical appointment or the birth of a child still takes place without adequate sanitation and cleaning conditions.

These numbers are not just statistics. They are lives. They are mothers, fathers, children, health professionals and entire communities who face difficulties that many of us never needed to know.

From August 23 to 27, World Water Week is celebrated. For more than three decades, the world celebration of water has invited governments, institutions and communities to recognize the value of this essential resource for life. Water Week exists precisely to remind us of this truth, water is not just a natural resource. Water is life.

It connects us to each other in a deep and silent way. The same water that flows in rivers feeds crops. The same rain that falls on forests supplies entire cities. The same water we drink is shared by past, present and future generations.

Therefore, taking care of water is much more than turning off a tap or avoiding waste. It is an act of respect for life. It is recognizing that we are part of a great human and natural community, where everything is interconnected.

The National Water and Sanitation Forum (FONAS) has played a decisive role in strengthening the coordination of the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (ASH) sector in Angola. In 2025, it brought together 288 participants and 120 entities, including representatives of the country's 18 EPAS, promoting policy alignment, knowledge sharing, and mobilization of commitments for more effective management of water, sanitation, and hygiene. Its main impact has been to bring institutions and partners together around joint solutions, strengthening the governance and sustainability of the sector for the benefit of the Angolan population.

Nature does not ask us for perfection. It only asks for awareness.

It asks us to protect rivers from pollution. It asks us to preserve the forests that help maintain the water cycle. It asks us to use resources responsibly. Above all, it asks us to understand that what we destroy today may be lacking in tomorrow's generations.

In this spirit, FONAS has established itself in Angola as an important platform for cooperation and commitment, bringing together different actors to strengthen the water, sanitation and hygiene sector and promote a more sustainable future for all.

When we help someone access water, we are not just offering a service. We are offering health, dignity, opportunities and hope. We are telling that person that their life matters.

In a world where we are so often encouraged to think only of ourselves, water teaches us a different lesson. It exists to serve. It runs without distinction, feeds without discrimination and sustains life in all its forms. Perhaps that is why it is one of nature's greatest teachers.

This Water Week, let us celebrate not only what water gives us, but also what it teaches us.

May each glass of water arouse gratitude.

May each river arouse respect.

May each spring awaken responsibility.

May every drop remind us that we are guardians of a precious asset that belongs not only to us, but also to the generations that are yet to come.

If, at the end of this reading, we look at water with more respect, at nature with more care and at our fellow human beings with more solidarity, then we will truly be celebrating this week.

Because water is not only what sustains life.

It is also what invites us to live more humanely.