HDR 2006 - Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis

Undp
Additional contact information
Undp: Human Development Report Office (HDRO) United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

in Human Development Report (1990 to present) from Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Abstract: Throughout history water has confronted humanity with some of its greatest challenges. Water is a source of life and a natural resource that sustains our environments and supports livelihoods – but it is also a source of risk and vulnerability. In the early 21st Century, prospects for human development are threatened by a deepening global water crisis. Debunking the myth that the crisis is the result of scarcity, this report argues poverty, power and inequality are at the heart of the problem. In a world of unprecedented wealth, almost 2 million children die each year for want of a glass of clean water and adequate sanitation. Millions of women and young girls are forced to spend hours collecting and carrying water, restricting their opportunities and their choices. And water-borne infectious diseases are holding back poverty reduction and economic growth in some of the world’s poorest countries. Beyond the household, competition for water as a productive resource is intensifying. Symptoms of that competition include the collapse of water-based ecological systems, declining river flows and large-scale groundwater depletion. Conflicts over water are intensifying within countries, with the rural poor losing out. The potential for tensions between countries is also growing, though there are large potential human development gains from increased cooperation.

Keywords: human development; water; sanitation; health; poverty reduction; water crisis; water shortages; agriculture; international cooperation; cross-border tension; natural ressources; water management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A0 B4 C0 C5 D0 E0 F0 G0 H0 I0 J0 K0 L0 L3 O1 O2 O5 Q0 R0 Y1 Y8 Z0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2006/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hdr:report:hdr2006

Access Statistics for this book

More books in Human Development Report (1990 to present) from Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by HDRO/UNDP ( this e-mail address is bad, please contact ).