But although the rural-urban gap has been reduced in some countries such as Armenia and Thailand , major disparities remain between rural and urban areas and between rich and poor on services and infrastructure for piped water supply and sanitation.
South Asian countries particularly need to make considerable efforts to improve their performance in this dimension. On urban water security, East Asia has shown positive progress while South and Southeast Asia still have some way to go, particularly Myanmar, Pakistan, and the Philippines.
Significant investment and leadership is needed to reliably meet the water needs of cities. This requires us to think well beyond our engineering knowledge and tap into the minds of specialist partner agencies to bring in more multi-faceted solutions. In relation to resilience to water-related disasters, advanced economies show the strongest performance while much of the rest of Asia and the Pacific has been weak.
Between and , there were 2, water-related disasters striking Asia, killing , people and affecting a further 3. South Asia showed the lowest resilience score, but several other countries showed strong improvement since These included Pakistan; the Philippines; and Taipei, China.
The report concludes there is a strong relationship between water management and the economy, and investments in good water management can be considered as a longer-term payback for increased growth and poverty reduction. Water-related investments can increase economic productivity and growth, while economic growth provides the resources to invest in institutions and capital-intensive water infrastructure.
The Source. News - Environment. In this way, water security focuses on the positive and negative outcomes—and not processes—for people, the economy, and the environment that are influenced by diverse aspects of water management. Social outcomes may include people affected by water-related disasters, children affected by water-borne diseases, conflicts around water supply access, or water-based recreation.
Economic outcomes may include economic losses from floods and droughts, hydropower production, or the value of irrigated agriculture. Environmental outcomes may include ecosystem health, extent of wetlands and estuaries, freshwater quality, or aquatic biodiversity. Water insecurity slows growth and impedes development and human welfare. It causes global economic losses in different aspects including property damage from floods, food losses from droughts and water scarcity.
Ecosystem degradation and pollution damage, although hard to quantify, poses significant threat to future water provision, especially in the context of climate change. Water insecurity is typically driven by a combination of environmental, societal, technological, and governance factors. The most water insecure countries combine challenging hydrological environments with weak institutions and chronic under-investment in water infrastructure.
Even when water is abundant and the hydrologic regime is benign, mismanagement for example, misallocation or poor pollution regulation or inadequate infrastructure investment can lead to water insecurity.
As such, water security cannot be adequately assessed by any single integrative index. In addition, water security often intersects with other security issues, including energy security, food security, climate change and with national security. Consideration of water sector architecture and performance—and how these determine outcome—leads to recommendations for improving aspects of sector performance and adjusting sector architecture for better outcomes.
The analysis of sector performance considers i management of the water resource, ii delivery of water services, and iii mitigation of water-related risks. The description of sector architecture considers water infrastructure, and institutions encompassing institutional arrangements, financing, and governance.
In addition, it provides guidance on how to consider water issues within a broader context of national or regional macroeconomic trends and development objectives, such as the SDGs. Water has always been a source of risks and opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa. Yet rapidly changing socioeconomic, political, and environmental conditions make water security a different, and more urgent, challenge than ever before. This report shows that achieving water security means much more than coping with water scarcity.
It means managing water resources in a sustainable, efficient, and equitable way. It also involves delivering water services reliably and affordably, to reinforce relationships between service providers and water users and contribute to a renewed social contract.
Water security also entails mitigating water-related risks such as floods and droughts. Water security is an urgent target, but it is also a target within reach. To make these solutions work, clear incentives are needed to change the way water is managed, conserved, and allocated. Countries in the region will also need to better engage water users, civil society, and youth. The strategic question for the region is whether countries will act with foresight and resolve to strengthen water security or will wait to react to the inevitable disruptions of water crises.
Also available in Chinese. Building on the track record of research collaboration between the World Bank and the DRC on issues such as urbanization, the objective of the study is to provide Chinese policy makers with detailed institutional and policy options to support water security in the country. This study fills a critical gap highlighted in the World Bank China Country Water Resources Assistance Strategy by proposing legal, technical, and institutional changes to the current framework for water resource management.
A new water governance approach is recommended that aims to balance economic growth with increasing water demand under conditions of water scarcity.
By closely examining key water management issues in the context of China's rapid development, the study also aims to provide lessons relevant to other low- and middle-income countries facing similar water-related challenges. Pakistan: Getting More from Water. This report builds on prior work to provide a new, comprehensive, and balanced view of water security in Pakistan, stressing the importance of the diverse social, environmental, and economic outcomes from water.
The report highlights the complex water issues that Pakistan must tackle to improve water security and sheds new light on conventional assumptions around water.
It seeks to elevate water security as an issue critical for national development. The report assesses current water security and identifies important water-related challenges that may hinder progress in economic and human development. It identifies unmitigated water-related risks, as well as opportunities where water can contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction.
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