According to an extensive analysis by global issues think tank Strategic Foresight Group, it was found in examining 146 countries that share rivers, lakes and other freshwater resources, that “countries enjoying peaceful co-existence have active water cooperation and countries facing risk of war have low or no water cooperation.” In fact, water is a popular target for terrorists.
Homeland Security report, between 2013 and 2015, ISIS alone launched nearly 20 major attacks against Syrian and Iraqi water infrastructure.
Currently, 2.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water at home, and six in 10 lack safe sanitation globally.
On the anniversary of the launch of the first-ever U.S.
Global Water Strategy.
When I served as Senate Majority Leader, I drafted in 2005 legislation to address the overall lack of safe water and sanitation in developing nations, which laid the groundwork for the progress we have made today.
Called the Safe Water: A Currency for Peace Act, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid joined me in introducing this bill that made access to safe drinking water, basic sanitation, and hygiene a stated objective of U.S. foreign assistance.
… Fully 90 percent of infant deaths, of deaths of children less than 5 years of age, relate to waterborne illnesses, a product of lack of access to clean water or inadequate sanitation.
Reauthorized as the Water for the World Act nine years later, the 2014 legislation built on our 2005 law’s mandate to develop a comprehensive national strategy to deliver “equitable access to safe water and sanitation in developing countries” by requiring the formation of first ever “single government-wide Global Water Strategy” by 2017.
Global health and security improve economic outcomes and increase viable trade partners for American goods and services.