60,000 paintings send children’s message to protect water resources

Responding to World Water Day (March 22), on March 19 at Phuc Dien Secondary School in Hanoi, the Department of Water Resources Management (DWRM), in coordination with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), held the closing ceremony and award presentation for the “Safe and Efficient Water Use” drawing contest for students aged 6 to 15 nationwide.

After more than two months of the drawing contest (from October to December 2025), it attracted over 60,000 artworks from nearly 300 primary and secondary schools. Many submissions came from localities heavily affected by storms and flooding, such as Thai Nguyen and Gia Lai, reflecting students’ strong concern about clean water and water security.

Beyond innocent strokes of color, each painting carried a clear and creative message: saving water, harvesting rainwater, protecting rivers and lakes, and treating clean water. These simple yet practical ideas help encourage behavioral change and raise awareness about water resource protection within communities.

According to Chau Tran Vinh, Director General of the DWRM, water resources are an essential foundation for life, socio-economic development, and national security. Amid increasing climate change impacts, pollution, and water degradation, and with demand continuing to rise and reliance on transboundary water sources remaining high, water management must be implemented consistently across river basins at the national level, ensuring fair and reasonable allocation while integrating protection and sustainable restoration.

From this perspective, Director Vinh emphasized the key role of communication and education, particularly for younger generations who will directly participate in protecting and utilizing water resources in the future. Providing knowledge and fostering habits of saving and using water efficiently from the school grounds is a crucial foundation for building long-term community awareness.

The DWRM Director also highly appreciated the ideas and initiatives expressed in the contest entries, as they not only reflect students’ creative perspectives but also suggest new approaches to water resource issues. These works serve as a positive source of inspiration, helping spread social awareness and potentially providing references for policymaking toward a more sustainable, inclusive, and equitable future.

“Investing in education and raising awareness about water resources is not only meaningful in the short term but also a long-term strategy. When everyone, especially younger generations, understands the value of water and uses it responsibly, national water security will gradually be strengthened,” said Director Vinh.

Sharing the same view, Silvia Danailov, UNICEF Representative in Viet Nam, said the contest theme “Protecting water safely and efficiently” carries special significance. Through each artwork, students conveyed a simple but profound message: every drop of water is precious and deserves to be cherished.

According to the UNICEF Representative, this message becomes even clearer when linked to the theme of World Water Day 2026: “Water and Gender Equality - When Water Flows, Opportunity Grows.” In many parts of the world, women and girls are still responsible for fetching water, affecting their opportunities for education and development. Meanwhile, in Viet Nam, water demand has tripled over the past 50 years due to population growth, agricultural expansion, industrialization, and urbanization, creating an urgent need for more efficient water management and use.

The submitted artworks demonstrated diverse forms of expression, rich imagination, and meaningful messages about saving water, protecting water resources, reducing pollution, and sharing water fairly. Many works carried high artistic value while also suggesting initiatives that could be applied in practice.

Through a series of communication activities across media and social networks, the contest’s message reached more than one million teachers, parents, and students, helping raise community awareness about safe, economical, and efficient water use.

At the ceremony, awards were presented in both individual and collective categories. The individual category included one first prize, two second prizes, three third prizes, ten consolation prizes, and 100 promising awards. The collective category included one first prize, one second prize, one third prize, one consolation prize, and 30 awards for schools with the highest number and quality of submissions.