By Amira Sayed The limited nature of water resources has brought water to the top of the agenda of decision- makers, not only in Egypt but also in many other parts of the world. Bearing in mind how urbanisation, pollution, growing populations, poor management and climate change are increasing the stress on water, both developed and developing countries are racing against time to reach an integrated water management system in the hope of meeting the soaring water challenges. According to the United Nations, more than two billion people all over the world lack access to safe water while more than 4.5 billion people lack appropriate sanitation services. "By 2050, at least one in four people will live in a country where the lack of fresh water will be chronic or recurrent," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned. In the light of these alarming figures which indicate that water is becoming scarcer and more polluted, all the international water organisations have stressed that an integrated water approach and water-sharing in trans-boundary river basins are inevitable to achieve water security and sustainable development. That was why "Sharing Water" was the overarching theme of the world's biggest water-related event, namely the 8th World Water Forum held in Brazil, from March 18-23. A co-operative management framework is even more important in Africa where five river basins: the Congo, Niger, Nile, Rhine and Zambezi, are shared by 9 to11 countries. "Departure from the status quo to an innovative system which is able to respond to present needs and expectations is necessary to reach water security," Karin Krchnak, a senior member of the World Water Council (WWC), told The Egyptian Gazette at a press conference in Brazil last month. The WWC is an international multi-stakeholder platform organisation whose aim is to mobilise action on critical water issues. Regarding the role of the WWC in helping Nile basin countries reach a compromise in the current discussions related to the establishment of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and in the light of the anticipated decline in Egypt's share of the River Nile, Krchnak pointed out that water scarcity was a challenge, not only in Africa but in the whole world. "Hence, dialogue is the key path to reaching and sustaining water security besides providing robust solutions, at a time of growing water uncertainties and disparities," she told the Gazette. A senior official at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Ruhiza Jean Broto, told this paper that water was now a problem, due to its finite nature on Earth, but it could be a solution if all countries put aside disputes and brought their water policies closer. "Water scarcity is a global challenge. The scarcity creates room for discussion on how to improve water management," said Broto, who is the FAO's senior land and water officer. Broto underlined the social consequences of water shortage and highlighted the link between water stress and migratory movements globally. According to many studies, water scarcity on a larger scale has increased migration rates in many parts of the world, he added. "We, at the FAO, do not make decisions. We just hold discussions and make recommendations that would help policy-makers improve their water management systems worldwide. We also focus on raising public awareness of the global water hurdles with the aim of helping all countries reach water security," he said. Speaking to The Gazette, Claudia Mora Pineda, a senior member of the High-Level Global Panel on Water and Peace (HLPW), said that policy-makers should speak from the heart to reach appropriate legal and regulatory frameworks for water-related issues. "My country, like your country, is facing numerous water challenges. The whole world is facing water scarcity; this requires collaborative work and decisive action rather than the formulation of concepts," she said. The HLPW was launched on November 16, 2015 in Geneva, with the aim of providing a set of proposals to strengthen the global framework for preventing and resolving water-related conflicts. "As most of the world's water is shared, policy-makers should deal with water issues from a regional perspective," she concluded.
