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Humans nowadays are responsible for one of the most severe global issues, water scarcity. Water

is an essential part of industry, agriculture, the economy and humans daily activities. It also

comprises for most part of humans body. However, drinkable water source is limited. Fresh safe

water is running dry and severely polluted which causes numerous negative consequences.

Humans survival, politics, and social stability are at risk, therefore, it is the worlds duty to make

the water crisis one of the top global priorities.

To be simply explained, the water crisis is divided into two types, physical and economic water

scarcity. Physical water scarcity is when people do not have access to water. Even though this is

a part of natural phenomenon, the increasing number of regions without access to water seems to

make the issue become more serious in the recent decades. This is happening most dramatically

in Africa. Communities in the countries have to spend their time looking for supplies of water in

order to sustain themselves. Sub-Saharan Africa alone loses 40 billion hours per year collecting

water; the same as an entire year's labor in all of France (Conserve Energy Future, 2017). With

that exact amount of time, children in the area can go to school and receive education while the

adults can make living, build and develop a better society to live in as an alternative. The African

and many other regions are paying a remarkable opportunity cost due to the lack of water.

Economic water scarcity is a lack of safe water. Abundant water sources are being contaminated.

It becomes a huge deal for people just to find a reliable source of water, especially in developing

nations. African countries are now facing the most dreadful clean water exhaustion compared to

the rest of the world which is the result of lack of proper sanitation and waste water treatment

system. Drinking sick water means to pass on bacteria and viruses into the body. And this is
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happening as clean water is being deteriorated by both natural and man- made factors. Water-

related diseases have started to develop which is now threatening millions of peoples health in

those countries. Half of the world's hospital beds are filled with people suffering from a water-

related disease (The Water Project, 2017). This figure indicates that the issue is at a point of

crisis. Yet both physical and economic water scarcity are rapidly contributing to the existence of

many communities over the global.

The water crisis is due to several major human factors. First of all, people have been overusing

water and are not aware that the resource is restricted. Particularly in developed countries, people

take water for granted and use it wastefully causing a massive depletion of fresh water. Secondly,

poor water management and sewage systems, agriculture and human wastewater create pollution

that is one of the major causes that lead to water shortage. Conflicts and the governments

irresponsibility are also some significant factors which lead to the issue (CFF, What is Water

Scarcity, n. d.). For example, in Yemen, people claim that its the governments fault for having

poor governance and a lack of support towards water projects which has contributed to the

current water scarcity in the country (The Guardian, 2015). Last but not least, the rapidly

increasing population leads to humans demand for basic needs such as water become

excessive. According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, water

use has been growing at more than twice the rate of population increase in the last century

(UNDESA, 2014). All the main causes mentioned above are proofs for humans contribution to

the world water crisis.

Some of the menacing signs of this impending crisis have come into sight. Communities from

different parts of the world, especially those who are in developing countries, are enduring the
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hardship of life without water.1.2 billion people, or almost one-fifth of the world's population,

live in areas of physical water scarcity and another 1.6 billion people, or almost one quarter of

the world's population, face economic water shortage (UNDSA, 2015). World hunger is one of

the major problems that are resulted from a lack of access to enough water. It is reported that the

world population will grow from 6.9 billion to 8.3 billion by 2030 whilst food demand is

predicted to increase by 50% (UNDESA, 2016). This means that by this time, there should be

50% of food made available for the whole population despite of the fact that water might become

unusable. As a result, death tolls related to water scarcity are gradually rising. Based on an article

from Unicef, nearly one out of every five deaths under the age of five worldwide is due to a

water-related disease (Unicef, 2009). The most popular intestinal illness connected to the

consumption of contaminated water and inadequate sanitation is diarrhea. The disease has been

scientifically proven that is caused by a host of bacterial, viral and parasitic organisms most of

which can be spread by dirty water. Every year, about 2.2 million people die from diarrhea; 90%

of these deaths are among children, mostly in developing countries (WHO.int). Deaths are

caused by dehydration and lack of sodium in the humans body, especially young children

(Rehydration Project, 2017). With all consequences mentioned above, it can be clearly seen that

the connection between water and humans survival yet the social stability is beyond doubt.

(Recent status of the issue in different parts of the world)

Recent situations of water crisis vary in different regions of the world. The areas with the

extremely high stress of water are Southern Asia, Northern Africa and Australia. The current

water situation in Southern Asia are consequences of rapid increase in population, urbanization

and rising environmental pollution. Approximately 22 out of 23 cities in India are facing daily

water issues. Millions of residents in the capital of Nepal have to make lines waiting for hours till
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their turn to get drinking water from the citys waterspouts. Electricity and water shortages are

also causes that lead to protests and citywide unrest in Karachi, a city of Pakistan. The crisis not

does not end up in the South of Asia but also has been growing remarkably in Australia and

Africa as mentioned above. Dry rivers, empty dams and serious droughts in Australia are making

farmers losing their chance to earn a living since most farms and livestock are gradually

perishing. Water restrictions in this country also reaches the greatest peak over decades

(OSU.EDU, 2010). In Africa, water scarcity is a daily reality to about one billion individuals

while it has been reported that 35 percent of the cities water is given out through connections

illegally. This figure proves that poverty is also a notable reason to the contribution of water

problems. However, water crisis seems not to be a huge deal in countries of South America and

Middle of Africa (Future Directions, 2016). The ratio of water withdrawals to supply in the two

areas was just below ten percent while in South Africa, the number was over 80 percent. Even

though the critical situations are different around the world, they all have the same similarity of

the fact that water crisis is no longer an easily obtainable basic- need.

The republic of Yemen is now on the verge of running out of water yet domestic communities are

facing outrageous situation over the world. Almost 20 million Yemenis, approximately three out

of four, are suffering from a lack of access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. This is

resulted from limited finance and the irresponsibility of the government. Moreover, increasing

population, substandard water management and over- exploitation of underground water have

accounted for a huge proportion in the contribution to the current situation. Mostly citizens

survive by depending on humanitarian aid from international charity organizations. However,

this cannot last forever without the support from the authority and the amount of water available
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will never be enough to supply the whole population. Families that meet serious financial issues

have to wait for their turn to get water coming from a taps once a month, only if they are

fortunate enough. For wealthier groups, they can buy water from tanks which is completely

not safe for their health. Moreover, it has been reported that recently in Yemen, water from rural

areas has been taken to supply the urban zones causing tension the armed conflicts in the country

(The Guardian, 2015). Nevertheless, the on- going wars and conflicts in Yemen are just

worsening the water situation. (direct quote) + few more details

Word count: approx. 1150

Moreover, water shortages also lead to inadequate sanitation, especially in African countries. It is

a major problem for 2.4 billion people who are exposed to diseases, such as cholera and typhoid

fever and other water-borne illnesses (World Wildlife Fund, 2017).

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References (alphabet order) redo-

Conserve Energy Future. (2017). 40 Interesting Facts About Water Pollution - Conserve
Energy Future. [online] Available at: http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/various-
water-pollution-facts.php [Accessed 9 May 2017].

Conserve Energy Future. (2017). Causes, Effects and Solutions of Water Scarcity -
Conserve Energy Future. [online] Available at: http://www.conserve-energy-
future.com/causes-effects-solutions-of-water-scarcity.php [Accessed 11 May 2017].

Un.org. (2017). Water scarcity | International Decade for Action 'Water for Life' 2005-
2015. [online] Available
at:http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/scarcity.shtml [Accessed 11 May 2017].

Un.org. (2017). Action on Water Resources Management (WRM) | 2015 UN-Water

Annual International Zaragoza Conference. Water and Sustainable Development: From
Vision to Action. 15-17 January 2015 | International Decade for Action 'Water for Life'
2005-2015. [online] Available
at: http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/waterandsustainabledevelopment2015/water_r
esources_management.shtml [Accessed 11 May 2017].

UNICEF. (2017). UNICEF/WHO joint report on preventing and treating the second
leading killer of children. [online] Available
at: https://www.unicef.org/health/index_51412.html [Accessed 11 May 2017].

World Wildlife Fund. (2017). Water Scarcity | Threats | WWF. [online] Available
at: https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/water-scarcity [Accessed 16 May 2017].

http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/takingcharge.html#Acknowledgements [Acc
essed 16 May 2017].
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Anon, (2015). [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-

professionals-network/2015/apr/02/water-scarcity-yemen-conflict [Accessed 16 May
2017].

The Water Project. (2017). Water In Crisis - Spotlight South Africa. [online] Available at:
https://thewaterproject.org/water-crisis/water-in-crisis-south-africa [Accessed 25
May 2017].

Add direct quote for national perspective (Yemen)

To fetch