Blackened rivers snake the ring roads of Beijing, carrying pollution and often smelly water from one end of the city to another. The most polluted of these have been dubbed “foul and filthy” rivers (黑臭河) by China’s Ministry of the Environment (MEP) and Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD). However, the government has decided to clean these up – and is enlisting the help of the public to do so.

The saying goes, what hasn’t been counted doesn’t count. Our latest datasets for the Environment and Gender Information (EGI) platform are proving this true.

When anyone wishes to support – or defeat – a given position, the sturdiest method is to generate data to predict its consequences. Advocates generate reams of numbers to substantiate their preferred outcome.

When I heard of the horrific murder of Berta Cáceres, a Honduran environmental activist who had spent years fighting to protect her community’s traditional lands, I was shocked – though perhaps I shouldn’t have been.

Post-war countries are among the most difficult policy arenas. The challenge is not only to stop violence and prevent violence from rekindling, but moreover to help countries reset their internal relations on a peaceful path. Increasingly, researchers and practitioners are interested in the potential of natural resources in post-war settings in the hope that good governance and sustainable management can contribute to this reset. Indeed, the international community acknowledged the relevance of the link between peaceful societies and environmental issues by including both in the Sustainable Development Goals.

Africa has its share of challenges, but it also leads the way in creative development responses. Take the Lake Tanganyika area in Tanzania. Daily life is hard. There are few roads. Cellphone service is patchy. You must travel by boat for seven hours to reach the nearest hospital. And if you have an obstetric emergency, there is no doctor in the village to help you.

Massive droughts and water demands from a world population projected to grow to 9 billion by 2050, translate to food insecurity and lack of water for agriculture. Securing Water for Food sources and invests in a portfolio of innovative solutions that help farmers use water more efficiently and effectively; improve water storage for lean times; and remove salt from water to make more food.

Sitting at my desk looking at bills to be paid, the first one on the stack is for the water company, emblazoned with the phrase, “Water is Life.” Yes, we all know that. But really, as my teenagers would say, “Duh, Mom. So what?”

Well, here’s the “so what” on this World Water Day 2016.