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TitleScarce water, plenty of conflicts? : local water conflicts and the role of development cooperation
Publication TypeBook
Year of Publication2008
AuthorsHoudret, A
Secondary TitleINEF policy brief
Volumeno. 3
Pagination20 p. : 2 boxes
Date Published2008-02-01
PublisherInstitute for Development and Peace, INEF
Place PublishedDuisburg, Germany
Keywordsdevelopment cooperation, millennium development goals, policies, sdipol, water resources management, water shortage
Abstract

Growing water scarcity increases competition for the access to the resource and is subsequently a matter of conflict potential in many countries. Water management and related conflicts are increasingly a matter of distributive justice and political legitimacy. As technical measures can rarely mobilise significant additional water resources, the political scope of action mainly lies in demand management.
In countries where water is scarce, water resource allocation often reflects social, political and economic inequities. The balance of power can easily emphasise these differences and is therefore significantly relevant for the emergence or escalation of conflicts. The intrastate level is specifically affected by this phenomenon as – especially in agrarian countries – influential positions in politics and society are often linked to the access to water. Lucrative export products, for example, can only be produced with sufficient water supply, and investments in the tourism sector are also closely linked to the resource availability. Nevertheless, urban water allocation structures, especially in developing countries, also mirror social disparities, such as those between rich and poor districts. Restrictions in resource availability therefore often have direct social and political consequences, as hostilities following increases in prices of drinking water services have shown.
This Policy Brief analyses the causes of intrastate water conflicts and introduces the main challenges for international development cooperation. By typologising water conflicts and showing corresponding policy options the paper provides an overview of possible strategies to cope with water conflicts. It offers recommendations on how to better identify, resolve and prevent conflicts in the water sector.

Notes12 ref.
Custom 1276, 202.3

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