Water for people.pdf - WHO Thailand Digital Repository

1 2 / S E T T I N G T H E S C E N EThe World’s Water CrisisThe destruction of fish and their habitats through pollution canhave devastating impacts upon these poor communities.Water-related disastersBetween 1991 and 2000 over 665,000 people died in 2,557 naturaldisasters, of which 90 percent were water-related events. The vastmajority of victims (97 percent) were from developing countries (IFRC,2001). Growing concentrations of people and increased infrastructurein vulnerable areas such as coasts and floodplains and on marginallands mean that more people are at risk (Abramovitz, 2001). Whilepoor countries are more vulnerable, in every country it is the verypoor, the elderly, and women and children who are especially hard hitduring and after disasters. After such events national statistics ofinfrastructural damage and loss of life are available but rarely is itpossible to determine the effect on the livelihood systems of thepopulation. The ‘failure to focus on [the impact of] disasters onlivelihoods indicates and perpetuates misplaced aid priorities’ (IFRC,2001, p. 35). Asia has fared particularly badly, with roughly 40 percentof all disasters taking place on the continent. Each event frequentlyleaves thousands of communities more vulnerable to the next disaster,with both individual and state barely able to recover from one disasterbefore the next catastrophe strikes. Worldwide, floods were the mostreported disaster event; the year 2000 saw 153 flood events alone,some of the worst taking place in Mozambique and along the lengthof the Mekong River (South-East Asia), while in terms of loss of life,droughts claimed the greatest number of victims. Such events can andmust drive policy changes. For example, in Bangladesh, the 1988 floodand 1991 cyclone brought with them a determination from disasterrelatedinstitutions that they would not meet a similar threatunprepared again. As a result, Bangladesh initiated changes that,while painful to develop, have now provided it with robust cyclone andflood preparedness and management strategies, all of which havebeen severely tested since. Consequently, the significance of disastersas a driver of water resource management should not beunderestimated. What is important is thus not just the specific impactof disasters, but the way in which they interact with other aspects ofwater management, and the ways in which vulnerable people adjusttheir resource management to take account of the risks.Changes Affecting WaterIt is important to set the issues surrounding water in a globalcontext. The world is changing at an ever increasing rate. Many ofthese changes are having an impact on how we, as humans, utilizethe world’s water. This section recaps and describes a number ofthe changes that have taken and are taking place, and the effectthese are having on the water situation. Of course, none of theseissues are isolated and most are interdependent. Nevertheless,focusing on the reasons why the world is now facing a water crisisis helpful in understanding what factors will worsen the crisis, andwhere developments outside of the water sector can be brought tobear to improve the situation.Geopolitical changesThe last half-century has seen major changes in the political make-upof many countries. While this provides a backdrop for many of thefollowing issues, a number of specific issues do arise from thechanging political scene. Many countries that were once colonies havegained independence, and have assumed the ability for, andresponsibilities of, self-governance. The rise of communism after theSecond World War, and the Cold War that followed, impacted on howwater resources were managed. The command economies that focusedon agriculture resulted in the construction of many large irrigationschemes, some with severe environmental implications (e.g. the AralSea in central Asia, which has been desiccated due to intensification ofirrigation in the region). The fall of communism and the rise ofdemocracy across the world, both in previous communist states andmilitary dictatorships, has changed the way water resources aremanaged. This has allowed a greater public awareness of water issues,and enabled local groups to take care of their local water resources.However, many of these new democracies are having to deal withinherited, old ways of working and past environmental impacts. Thechanging economic structure in many countries has resulted in therebeing less money available for investment in water management.Population growthRapid growth of the world’s population has been one of the mostvisible and dramatic changes to the world over the last hundredyears. Population growth has huge implications for all aspects ofresource use, including water. Although water is a renewableresource, it is only renewable within limits; the extent to whichincreasing demands can be met is finite. As population increases,freshwater demand increases (see figure 1.1) and supplies perperson inevitably decline.Per capita water supplies decreased by a third between 1970and 1990 and there is little doubt that population growth has beenand will continue to be one of the main drivers of changes topatterns of water resource use. Future projections of worldwidepopulation growth have been revised downward in recent years,primarily as a result of significant declines in birth rates. Althoughthere are differences of opinion, most projections expect this slowdownof growth rates to continue and for the world’s population tostabilize at about 9.3 billion people (still over 50 percent higherthan the 2001 population of 6.1 billion) somewhere in the middleof the twenty-first century (UNFPA, 2002).