Water and Peacebuilding

About

Water plays a crucial role in peace and conflicts, especially as water becomes more scarce with increasing populations, overuse, mismanagement and climate change. Throughout history, water has been a source of conflict, as nations wrestle for sovereignty over key waterways, groups fight for access to critical water sources, and populations are forced to leave their homes due to water scarcity. Accelerating climate change such as erratic rainfall, severe droughts, and other extreme weather events creates more competition for a diminishing water supply that leads to more water-related conflicts. Increasingly, humanitarian and development organizations are also seeing water emerge as more than just a basic human right – it’s also an instrument of peacebuilding. Not only can water security reduce conflict triggers in water-scarce areas, but water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) projects present an opportunity for communities to build social cohesion and social capital around a shared resource. Join representatives from World Vision, Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation, and EverVillage as they discuss how water has played a key role in the communities in which they work.