Flash of April 2010 from ENWIS (Euro-Mediterranean Information System on the know-how in the Water Sector)-EMWIS is a program of the Union for the Mediterranean- informs the following:
“People in the Arab world need fuller and freer information about shrinking water supplies but their governments are withholding it for fear of fuelling unrest, a United Nations expert said last 1st April. Arable land makes up just 4.2 percent of the Middle East and North Africa and is expected to shrink due to climate change -- a potential source of political instability, analysts say, in a region where economic privation has sometimes sparked conflict. Moreover, Arab countries do not disclose enough information on their water out of concern that transparency could fuel unnecessary public concern and unrest. People in the Middle East and North Africa have access to an average of just 1,000 cubic meters of water a year, seven times lower than the worldwide rate, according to the UNDP's Arab Human Development Report. As climate change takes its toll and the region's populations grow at nearly twice the global average, that figure is projected to shrink to just 460 cubic meters by 2025. Coordinated water policy will be a challenge in a region where water politics is often seen as a zero-sum game and can be used as a lever in larger political feuds. Experts urged immediate action to confront the dire issue. Further information on EMWIS website”.
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