"As the UN conference on water kicks off, it’s vital to reflect on how water has been used as a tactical weapon and a strategic battlefield resource."

"Experts and leaders will soon come together in the thousands at the first UN conference dedicated to water in nearly half a century.

At the conference, which begins March 22 in New York, delegates will no doubt stress that “water is life.” And it’s true: Water nourishes, cleanses, and even inspires the poetry and painting so desperately needed by our modern and rushed society. We really cannot live without it.

But as a professor of water security who focuses on its role in conflict, I know that water is death too. And I don’t just mean the awesome destructive force of floods—hundreds of children in Pakistan and twice as many adults drowned when a “monsoon on steroids” burst the banks of the Indus River last summer—or agonizing spells of drought."

Mark Zeitoun reports for The Conversation March 21, 2023. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"UN 2023 Water Conference" (UN) [3]

"UN Warns Against 'Vampiric' Global Water Use" (BBC News) [4]

"Flagship UN Report Extolls Win-Win Water Partnerships To Avert Global Crisis" (UN News) [5]