FLINT, MI -- The city plans to distribute 12 semi-trailers of bottled water at five locations on World Water Day, March 22, Mayor Karen Weaver says.

Speaking at a news conference Monday, March 11, Weaver announced the giveaway and a World Water Day sister city partnership with Dakar, Senegal, which has struggled to provide basic water access to all residents.

“(We) are focused specifically ... on clean water and sanitation as a human right ... The story of Flint needs to be heard all around the world,” said Sheryl Simmons of Youth for Global Health and Social Justice, a United Nationals initiative.

Weaver said Flint residents “know all too well the importance of having access to clean and safe drinking water.”

“We’ve been living that for a while now,” the mayor said. “We know what it means to be without it and to fight to get it back.”

Five sites in the city will distribute donated water from 3-7 p.m., while supplies last, officials said.

The locations are Grace Emmanuel Baptist Church, 3502 Lapeer Road; New Jerusalem Full Gospel Baptist Church, 1035 Carpenter Road; Asbury Church, 1653 Davison Road; Calvary United Methodist Church, 2111 Flushing Road; and Flint City Hall, 1101 S. Saginaw St.

Sponsors of the water giveaway include Metro Community Development, Super Construction and W.T. Stevens Construction.