ICRC Calls For Solutions To World Water Crisis

KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 (Bernama) -- As experts meet at the sixth World Water Forum now underway in the port city of Marseille, France, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has called for solutions to the world's water crisis. In a statement, the head of ICRC's water and habitat unit, Jean-Philippe Dross, said violence, armed conflict and unhealthy conditions have caused tens of millions of people to suffer worldwide, facing a daily struggle to find clean drinking water. "It's bad enough to be thirsty and hungry. It's another thing altogether to be thirsty, hungry and living with the threat of violence and bloodshed," he said. Worldwide estimates show that more than 780 million people, 40 per cent of whom live in Saharan Africa, do not have access to clean water while some 2.5 billion do not have a toilet or latrine. The ICRC's regional water and habitat advisor for the Middle East, Michael Talhami, said the ICRC was "seeing some worrying 'cause and effect' trends leading to increased vulnerability and violence". "The highly inequitable distribution of resources, widespread environmental and natural sustainability issues, a lack of cooperation between authorities, rapid population growth, and climate change are all factors that contribute to greater competition for scarce resources, hindered economic growth, a rise in forced migration and increased tensions," he said. The ICRC strongly believes that these complex humanitarian challenges can be addressed through local cooperation, dialogue and innovation. The ICRC's pilot project in Ethiopia, carried out jointly with the regional water authorities, is an example of how the use of simple technology can help rural villages improve access to water. The project will link 32 local water boards to a central database. The status of 7,000 individual pumps and stations can be mapped and charted using information uploaded by mobile phone users. "When communities recognise water as an issue of common interest and concern, and decide to work together, rather than fight about it, they can come up with shared and sustainable solutions that build resilience and spur innovation," Dross said. -- BERNAMA