Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 25th March. UN Conference on Water held in New York on Friday said as water scarcity and the potential for conflicts between countries over resources increase, the world body has urged more nations to sign up to the Water Convention, designed to reduce tensions and improve international cooperation.
The UN conference noted that 2 countries joined the Convention, against the backdrop of a growing global water crisis, in which climate change, pollution, and rising demand are posing challenges for developing and developed countries alike.
Nigeria became the 48h country to join the treaty. The fast-growing country, the most populous in Africa, is dealing directly with the effects of desertification, having seen Lake Chad, an important water source shrink by 90 per cent since the 1970s.
Iraq joined the treaty the first in the Middle East to do so.
19 of the 22 Arab countries are considered water scarce, and all Arab States draw upon transboundary water resources that cross one or more international boundaries.
Iraq is experiencing increasing social, economic and political pressures due to water scarcity.
UN moderated a discussion at the SDG Media Zone, on how to improve cross-border cooperation between countries which share water resources.
Sonja Köppel, the Secretary to the Water Convention, and Suleiman Adamu, Nigeria’s Federal Minister of Water Resources took part in the panel discussion.
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