Water and War: The turbulent dynamics between water and fragility, conflict, and violence.
Masses of people in dire need of humanitarian assistance.
However, poor rains are not the only water problem that creates havoc.
Floods, water-borne diseases, and transboundary water conflicts can all cause severe human suffering and disruptions to political, economic, and environmental systems.
As we rush to mobilize resources to respond to the famine, we also need to ask ourselves why this downward spiral continues to happen.
When institutions fail to prepare, predict, or respond to water-related risks, the impact of a dry well, of a cholera outbreak, or of a flood have much greater human, political, and economic consequences.
In countries experiencing fragility, conflict, and violence, it is particularly challenging to achieve water security – that is, to deliver water services to the population and to protect them against water-related risks.
By 2030, virtually half of all the world’s poor will live that way.
A new report, Turbulent Waters: Pursuing Water Security in Fragile Contexts, describes what happens when institutions in fragile countries fail to manage the range of challenges related to water.
In turn, this contributes to destabilizing already fragile contexts, aggravating the challenges of water management, and perpetuating a vicious cycle of water insecurity and fragility.