Tackle Middle East water scarcity to save money, boost stability - World Bank
[2023-03-08 01:10:44]
YAOUNDE (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Tuesday, the World Bank announced that the Middle East and North Africa had lost about $ 21 billion per year due to lack of water and sanitation, and it is urgent to prevent chain reactions to stability and growth We warned that action was necessary.
South Sudan in northern South Sudan Bentiu in the vicinity of the United Nations mission (UNMISS) 2 May 6, 2017, civilian ruins (COP), to protect the IDPs, and collect the wash water to / Siegfried Modola reservoir .REUTERS
According to the report released by the bank, water resources and sanitation facilities in the world are not adequately managed, the annual GDP accounts for about 1% of the gross domestic product, there are also annual losses by countries affected by the conflict . 2% to 4% World Water Week Conference held in Stockholm, Sweden
In some parts of the region, particularly those affected by the conflict, the number of unsafe water and sanitation deaths is above the world average.
"The current conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa and the crisis of immigration will not have a serious impact on people's happiness and political stability if they do not deal with water issues," the report said.
According to the report, the urban population of the area will double by 2050 and is expected to approach 400 million people, so it is necessary to improve water use with policy, technology and water management tools.
Anders Jägerskog, the World Bank's water management expert, says: And one of the authors of the report
According to the report, countries in the Middle East and North Africa use far more water than can be supplied, calling this area a "global hot spot for unsustainable water use" is.
Jägerskog told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that technology and innovation is "indispensable but not enough" to reverse this trend. He said that water governance - in particular water prices and subsidies - must also be addressed
This region has the lowest water rate in the world, accounting for the highest percentage of GDP in terms of public water subsidies. According to Jägerskog, these policies are not sustainable, leading to excessive use of already running water supply
Another challenge is that more than half of the wastewater collected in the area is fed back to the environment without treatment.
Chen Guangzhe, senior director of world water management at the World Bank, said in a statement, "Supplies are increasing in different ways, such as seawater desalination and recycling due to improved water management .
According to the report, the government can earn $ 10 billion a year by improving the storage of irrigation water and delivery to users while increasing agricultural production by 8%.
Egypt, Syria, Iran - the region with the largest proportion of irrigated land - is the most beneficiary country,
Report by Inna Lazareva; edited by Megan Rowling. Please trust Thomson Reuters Foundation which is a charity of Thomson Reuters. This includes humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women's rights, trafficking and property rights. Please visit news.trust.org/climate.
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