Water, Conflict and Cooperation
Publisher: Carius, A., J. Dabelko, and A.T. Wolf (ECSP Report)
Date: 2004
Topics: Basic Services, Conflict Prevention, Cooperation, Renewable Resources
Water poses both a threat and an opportunity for the UN system. Increasing scarcity of clean fresh water impedes development, undercuts human health, and plays critical roles along the conflict continuum between and within states. While rarely (if ever) starting a war between states, water allocation is often a key sticking point in ending conflict and undertaking national and regional reconstruction and development. Within states, water scarcity can assume an increasingly contentious and violent role when, for example, water-dependent sectors such as irrigated agriculture can no longer sustain farming livelihoods, leading to destabilizing migration flows. Conflict prevention, conflict resolution, and post-conflict reconstruction efforts ignore water at their peril in key regions of the world (e.g., Southern and East Africa, including the Great Lakes region; the Middle East; and Central, Southeast, and South Asia).