Global panel seeks effective policies to protect water resources
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Geneva: The Global High-Level Panel of the Water and Peace, in which the Sultanate is a member, has launched World Water and Peace Report in Geneva, Switzerland.
The report highlighted the United Nations Millennium Development Goals for 2000 and 2015, seeking international cooperation to prevent and resolve water-related conflicts.
States should be encouraged to develop appropriate legislative frameworks for the protection of transboundary water infrastructures against terrorist acts.
It has been observed that countries which jointly manage their shared water resources do not go to war with each other, and hence Switzerland is very active in what it calls ‘blue diplomacy’. This kind of diplomacy encourages discussions between the countries which make up the Nile Basin, and between countries in Central Asia and the Middle East. Furthermore, according to a study published by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, by 2050 more than half of the world’s population (52 per cent) will be living in regions where water is extremely scarce.
Supported by the Geneva Water Hub, the Global Panel on Water and Peace has been working on the report for two years.