On the occasion of the Wilson Center's 50th anniversary, its Environmental Change and Security Program and nine co-sponsoring programs convened experts on November 28 from government, the NGO sector, and academia for a comprehensive look at the first year of the U.S. Government Global Water Strategy and new research and practice on water, peace, and conflict.
Southern Africa has significant biodiversity and natural resources, as well as a robust legal framework for natural resource management across borders. However, most countries in the region are water scarce or water stressed. National policies lack harmonization across countries and between sectors, and poor and vulnerable populations lack enough benefits and incentives for sustainable resource management.
About 90 percent of USAID’s water priority countries are conflict-affected or fragile. Last year, over 60 million people around the world were affected by more than 280 natural disasters. Effective water resource management is complex in times of peace and prosperity. Effective water resource management in a time of crisis—whether war or disaster—can mean the difference between building resilience or compounding tragedy.
This blog was first published in ClimateLinks.
The cost of desalination has been plummeting over the years. As a result, desalination has become a viable option for certain strategic uses. Today, over 20,000 desalination plants in more than 150 countries supply about 300 million people with freshwater every day. Initially a niche product for energy rich and water scarce cities, particularly in the Middle East, the continued decrease in cost and environmental viability of desalination has the potential to significantly expand its use - particularly for rapidly growing water scarce coastal cities.
USAID recognizes that strong local systems are needed to maintain functional water and sanitation services and that daunting challenges are associated with sustaining these services over time. The Sustainable WASH Systems (SWS) Learning Partnership was developed through a co-creation process and demonstrates the power of collaborative, iterative design.
Since 2005, USAID and NASA’s joint SERVIR project has been helping communities across the world better prepare for natural disasters. Working in close collaboration with local scientists and development partners via a series of regional hubs in Africa and Asia, SERVIR combines NASA’s state-of-the-art scientific innovations and satellite technology with USAID’s extensive development know-how and global reach to streamline rural communities’ benefits of satellite data.
About 90 percent of USAID’s water priority countries are conflict-affected or fragile. Last year, over 60 million people around the world were affected by more than 280 natural disasters. Effective water resource management is complex in times of peace and prosperity. Effective water resource management in a time of crisis—whether war or disaster—can mean the difference between building resilience or compounding tragedy.
The Transboundary Water for Biodiversity and Human Health in the Mara River Basin (TWB-MRB) Project was been a collaborative effort under the Global Water for Sustainability (GLOWS) Program with participation from CARE Tanzania, the Mara River Waters Users Association (MRWUA), Florida International University (FIU), World Wildlife Fund Eastern and South Africa Regional Programme Office (WWF-ESARPO) and World Vision Kenya.
