Global Water Supplies

“All are places where shortages of water contribute to poverty. They cause social hardship and impede development. They create tensions in conflict-prone regions. Too often, where we need water we find guns. […] There is still enough water for all of us – but only so long as we keep it clean, use it more wisely, and share it fairly”  Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General

There has been a global water crisis growing for decades, the UN declared 2005-2015 to be the international decade for action “Water for Life” to raise awareness and global action on this issue.[1]  There are multiple causes for this shortage, relating to sanitary storage and distribution, economic access to clean water and a simple lack of available water in drier regions.  This is a matter that requires global attention, as combined with food supply and distribution; this is literally the lifeblood of the human race.  The World Economic Forum has listed water crisis as the third highest global risk of 2014 – following only global financial system crashes and unemployment.[2] The situation is not being made easier by multinational companies actively working to seize natural water supplies and sell them to locals at a margin.[3]  This activity should be outright illegal, with water supply being a permanent function of the government.

Water is a human right.