The Great Debate UK
Water security for whom? Water and security in the Middle East
Eran Feitelson is a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The opinions expressed are his own.
Water is essential for life. This is a basic premise underlying the water discourse in all arid and semi-arid regions. Nowhere is this perception better acknowledged than the water-scarce Middle East.
Lately the discourse about water has increasingly been couched as a security issue. Yet, such framing may impede the provision of water to people, and hence obstruct the ability to secure water to all people.
The availability of water varies over space and time. In the Middle East rains fall almost exclusively in winter, and the quantities vary greatly between different parts of the area, and between years of plenty and years of drought (which may be successive).
from Global News Journal:
YOUR TURN TO ASK: Karel De Gucht, EU humanitarian aid chief
** This post is from Alertnet, the Thomson Reuters Foundation's global humanitarian news Web site.**
Earthquakes, floods, the global recession and recurrent famines have been keeping aid professionals across the world as busy as ever. Such crises hit poor countries the hardest, focusing increasing attention on preventing and preparing for disasters rather than dealing with their devastating aftermath.
