The year 2020 will go down in history as one of the most challenging ones for humankind from all points of view due to COVID-19 and the accelerating impacts of climate change. Both have caused, and will continue to cause, both directly and indirectly, severe disruptions of global economic activities, overall development and the quality of life of billions of people. Every country has been affected in terms of supply chain disruptions in all sectors, including retail and food services, manufacturing and wholesale trade, travel, and the hospitality industry. Before the pandemic, it was expected that by the end of 2020, the number of people living in absolute poverty, that is USD1.90 per day, would be reduced to 615 million. Instead, the pandemic is now expected to push an additional 88-119 million people back into absolute poverty. Even before the pandemic, achieving all the Sustainable Development Goals and their targets appeared very challenging. With COVID-19, its likelihood has plummeted. Even in normal times, but even more in these turbulent and uncertain times, all countries without exception need enlightened leadership, strong and functional institutions, robust legal and regulatory systems, formulation and implementation of long-term sustainable policies, and provision of efficient and timely services to all members of society, irrespective of socioeconomic status. Regrettably, many of these have been missing in nearly all countries. Instead, many countries, whether developed or developing, appear to have questionable leadership, weak and ineffective institutions, and self-serving leaders whose main objective is to remain in power, with improvements in societal well-being a secondary or even tertiary objective. One of the sectors that has been at the centre of attention is water. The pandemic the world is facing has reconfirmed once again, if any confirmation was ever necessary, how critical regular access to clean water is, not only for drinking but also for frequent handwashing and personal hygiene. In 2000, the Millennium Development Goals failed to recognize the paramount importance of clean water but focused on access to water alone, irrespective of quality. It was 15 years later that the Sustainable Development Goals acknowledged the relevance of access to clean water. Emergence of COVID-19 has exposed the dire situations of hundreds of millions of people, in both urban and rural areas and in both developed and developing countries, who do not have access to drinking water, or who do not perceive that the water they receive is clean and can be drunk from the tap without health concerns. It has further exposed the lack of proper hygienic practices that is still prevalent all over the world, irrespective of the socioeconomic status of the population.