It’s World Water Day, so let’s - together with United States Secretary of State Clinton - consider the facts: More than 5,000 people die each day due to insufficient sanitation services. Most of them are children. Millions of women walk for hours every day to collect water for their households - some of them putting their lives at risk. And, finally, by 2025, about two-thirds of the world’s population is likely to be affected by water stress. These trends are reason enough to be concerned, but there is also a foreign policy consideration, as outlined by Clinton during a joint event with World Bank President Robert Zoellick in Washington: "[W]ater security for us is a matter of economic security, human security, and national security, because we see potential for increasing unrest, conflicts, and instability over water." Based on this risk analysis, it is more than reasonable to use World Water Day, March 22nd, to announce increasing efforts to provide for global water security.

The US government did so by joining forces with the World Bank and signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support developing countries to address the areas of water security and water quality. Apart from convening a high-level review of programs under the MoU to monitor and advance progress annually, the partners, however, only went the first step by listing potential activities to be supported. No doubt, the activities listed are all worthy of support: To improve irrigation practices to promote water efficiency, to utilise remote sensing data to improve water forecasting and water resources management, or to identify areas for potential regional and transboundary cooperation. In light of present and future risks of water-related tensions and conflicts, however, the MoU remains somewhat vague and insufficient.

This is all the more surprising because Clinton illustrated during her remarks how to support regional water cooperation. One example is the joint approach of USAID and the Qatar National Food Security Program to create a regional network in 10 countries across the Middle East and North Africa to share technical knowledge to address existing and future water challenges. And Robert Zoellick? The President of the World Bank did outline the importance of giving water a price. There are definitely good reasons to examine all the ways to stop the inefficient use of water. However, in light of the crucial trends in the global water sector and expected developments such as climate change and population growth, it is doubtful if such an understanding is complex enough to avoid conflicts and insecurity around the globe. (Dennis Taenzler)

For more information on the MoU of the US Government and the World Bank, please seehttp://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2011/03/158774.htm.

For the speech given by Secretary Clinton, please seehttp://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2011/03/158833.htm.

For the remarks of Robert Zoellick, please seehttp://go.worldbank.org/B5AKNJR180.

Published in: ECC-Newsletter, 2/2011