Water scarcity is one of the most pressing humanitarian crises facing the world today. Access to water resources has far-reaching political and social implications, especially in areas where water is scarce. Natural water basins do not comply with man-made political borders, and as a result the allocation of precious water resources becomes a point of negotiation in transnational treaties and agreements. Adding to the politicization of water is the connection between water and energy production. Water is needed for all types of energy production, and energy is needed for the extraction and dissemination of clean water (UNIDO, 2014).
Water also affects social and cultural issues, such as gender and income inequality. Since women are traditionally the family members responsible for the retrieval of water, women end up spending many hours of their day collecting water (many times still from polluted or unclean sources) for their family’s survival rather than working outside the home or pursuing education. When people must spend such a large portion of their time procuring basic resources such as water, their ability to better their situation through work or education becomes even more limited. This means that the poorest people in the world remain poor, as long as they are struggling daily to obtain water.
Probably the most heart wrenching aspects of the global water crisis is its disproportionate effect on children. Unicef reported in 2013 that over 2,000 children die every day from diarrheal diseases, an estimated 1,800 of which stem from issues of water and hygiene. Sanjay Wijesekera, global head of UNICEF’s water, sanitation and hygiene programme, puts these numbers into perspective, saying, “The numbers can be numbing, but they represent real lives, of real children. Every child is important. Every child has the right to health, the right to survive, the right to a future that is as good as we can make it” (UNICEF, 2013).
The UN’s Millennium Development Goals address the issue of clean water and sanitation. Target 7.C of the goals promises to, “Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation” (UN, 2013). According to the UN website, this goal was met in 2010, five years ahead of schedule. More than 2 billion people gained improved access to drinking water between 1990 and 2010.
How are these goals being met? In addition to awareness campaigns such as World Water Day (which happens to be coming up on March 22nd!), there are countless organizations working to provide clean and accessible drinking water to the world’s poor and to manage and conserve freshwater resources. Many organizations work to set up programs in water-scarce countries that provide financing to families and communities for setting up clean water and sanitation services. Others directly provide wells, pumps, and latrines, as well as training for community members on maintaining the clean-water technology. Organizations range from non-profits to institutional coalitions to for-profit companies that donate a portion of profits to the cause. These types of charities and organizations are making strides in bringing safe and clean water to world populations, but it is a massive undertaking and the effort will require cooperation across cultures and political borders.
Learn more about water! Check out the resources below:
Selected Scholarly Articles (Accessed through UIUC E-Journals)
Ciampi, M. (2013). ‘Water divide’ in the global risk society. International Review Of Sociology, 23(1), 243-260.
Lall, U., Heikkila, T., Brown, C., & Siegfried, T. (2008). WATER IN THE 21ST CENTURY: DEFINING THE ELEMENTS OF GLOBAL CRISES AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS. Journal Of International Affairs, 61(2), 1-17.
Sivakumar, Bellie. (2011). Water Crisis: from conflict to cooperation, an overview. Hydrological Sciences Journal. 56(4), 531-552.
Trottier, J. (2008). Water crises: political construction or physical reality?. Contemporary Politics, 14(2), 197-214.
Latest Books at UIUC Library
Allan, J. A. (Eds.) (2013). Handbook of land and water grabs in Africa: foreign direct investment and food and water security. London : Routledge.
Chellaney, Brahma. (2013). Water, peace, and war :confronting the global water crisis. Lanham, Md. : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Groenfeldt, David. (2013). Water ethics: a values approach to solving the water crisis. Abingdon : Earthscan from Routledge.
Hughes, Richard. (2013). Religion, law, and the present water crisis. New York : Peter Lang.
Thielbörger, Pierre.. (2013). The right(s) to water: the multi-level governance of a unique human right. Berlin : Springer.
Additional Resources from UIUC