Water resources are under pressure as economies and populations grow, with 2.2 billion people lacking clean water.
Growing global water shortages are fueling more conflict and contributing to instability, the United Nations warns in a new report, which says access to clean water is critical to promoting peace.
The UN World Water Development Report 2024, released on Friday, says 2.2 billion people around the world do not have access to safe drinking water and 3.5 billion people lack access to managed health services. safe way.
Girls and women are the first victims of lack of water, says the report published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), especially in rural areas where they have the main responsibility for collect supplies.
Spending several hours a day fetching water, coupled with the lack of safe sanitation, is a contributing factor to girls dropping out of school.
“Water scarcity not only fans the flames of geopolitical tensions, but also poses a threat to fundamental rights as a whole, by significantly undermining, for example, the position of girls and women,” said the director of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay.
While the report does not examine specific current conflicts, Israel has severely restricted access to clean, fresh water during its war in Gaza.
UN agencies have long warned that not only are children and women at serious risk of thirst and hunger, but the lack of clean water has also disrupted medical treatment and hygiene.
The lack of water security drives migration and displaced people deplete resources in the places where they settle. The report cited a study in Somalia that indicated a 200 percent increase in gender-based violence against a group of displaced people.
Researchers found that at least 10 percent of global migration is related to water stress as the world faces a more erratic climate.
The report also said: “Global warming… is expected to further increase the frequency and severity of droughts and floods, with more wet and very dry weather and climate events.”
Titled Water for Prosperity and Peace, the report found that about half of the world's population is experiencing severe water shortages and some areas lack water almost all year round.
Much of the consequences are felt in poorer countries, which find it more difficult to adapt. The report estimated that it would cost $114 billion annually to provide clean water, sanitation and hygiene in 140 low- and middle-income countries.
Quentin Graft of UNESCO-affiliated Water Justice Hub told Al Jazeera: “It is not just a water problem for people in Syria. It is not just a water problem for the people of Sudan. … It is a water problem for all of us because we grow our food with fresh water, whether irrigated or rainfed, and when climate change is added to an already existing water crisis, then we cannot feed ourselves. “
While 153 countries share water resources, only 24 have signed cooperation agreements that cover all the water they share, UN chief Antonio Guterres said in a statement marking World Water Day on Friday.
More than 60 percent of all freshwater resources are shared by two or more countries, including large rivers such as the Rhine and Danube in Europe, the Mekong in Asia, the Nile in Africa and the Amazon in South America, it said. Sonja Koeppel, UN Secretary. Convention on Water, she told the Agence France-Presse news agency.
The convention was established in 1992 to help foster responsible co-management of water resources in Europe, but in 2016 it opened to countries around the world. It currently has 52 member states, mainly in Europe, Asia and Africa.
