World water crisis worsened by corruption, repression: UN report

(Feb. 24) - Corruption, restricted political rights and limited civil liberties are all factors that lie behind the planet’s growing water crisis, says a new United Nations report that focuses on the precious resource of fresh water. The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said that the second edition of the UN World Water Development Report shows the global water crisis is largely a crisis of governing systems that “determine who gets what water, when and how, and decides who has the right to water and related services.”
The report titled, “Water, a Share Responsibility,” which will be released on 9 March in Mexico City, presents a comprehensive picture of freshwater resources in all regions and most countries, tracking progress towards the water-related targets of the UN Millennium Development Goals. Known collectively as the MDGs, these targets were set at a 2000 UN Summit and aim to reduce major global ills such as poverty, illiteracy and hunger by 2015. The report examines a variety of key issues, including population growth and increasing urbanization, changing ecosystems, food protection, health, industry and energy. It also looks at risk management and how water is valued and paid for.