13 pictures to make you think twice about wasting water

Some 650 million people do not have access to safe water, putting them at risk of diseases and premature death

Some 650 million people, or one in 10 of the world's population, do not have access to safe water, putting them at risk of infectious diseases and premature death. Dirty water and poor sanitation can cause severe diarrheal diseases in children, killing 900 under-fives a day across the world, according to United Nations estimates - or one child every two minutes.

Among newborn babies, the World Health Organisation says infections caused by a lack of safe water and an unclean environment cause one death every minute somewhere in the world.

This year's United Nations World Water Day, marked on March 22, is focused on water and jobs and designed to highlight how water can create paid and decent work and contribute to a greener economy and sustainable development.

Here we look at 13 pictures of water being used around the world on World Water Day, 2016.

An Indian child carries a sack to collect used water bottles as school students take part in an awareness rally held to mark World Water Day in Hyderabad on March 22, 2016. PHOTO: AFP

A mother in Peshawar helps her child to drink water in a makeshift settlement. International World Water Day is held annually on March 22 to focus global attention on the importance of water and advocate for sustainable water resource management. PHOTO: AFP

Beloni gives a bath to his son on a small street in the neighborhood of Cite Vincent in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince. PHOTO: AFP

Indian school children take part in an awareness rally held to mark World Water Day in Hyderabad on March 22, 2016. PHOTO: AFP

Indian school children take part in an awareness rally held to mark World Water Day in Hyderabad on March 22, 2016. PHOTO: AFP

Pakistani residents use a communal pump to fill water containers in Quetta on March 22, 2016. PHOTO: AFP

A man uses a cart to transport water cannisters in Quetta. PHOTO: AFP

A young boy fills a bucket with water in a makeshift settlement in Peshawar on March 22, 2016. PHOTO: AFP

Pakistani water distributer Tabassum fills a water cooler for a client at a market in Rawalpindi on March 22, 2016. PHOTO: AFP

Children run past a pool of polluted water in a makeshift settlement in Lahore on March 22, 2016. PHOTO: AFP

A woman carries a water pot through a makeshift settlement as men bathe using a communal water pump in Lahore on March 22, 2016. PHOTO: AFP

Pakistani residents use a communal water pump to bathe and wash clothes in a makeshift settlement in Lahore on March 22, 2016. PHOTO: AFP

Beloni gives a bath to his son on a small street in the neighborhood of Cite Vincent. PHOTO: AFP