Water Crisis - A Global Picture
WATER: - As a Cultural Issue & a Source of Conflict A CASE OF SOMALIA
Abdullahi Elmi Mohamed
B.Sc., M.Sc., Lic. Tech., Ph.D. candidate at the Dept of Land and Water Resources Engineering, Royal University of Technology, Stockholm. Tel: +46 (0)8 761 3552 or +46 (0)70 752 24252 E-mail: elmi@aom.kth.se. Coordinator of the Somali Centre for Water and Environment (SCWE).
Introduction
Water Crisis - A Global Picture
Water is a basic human necessity and a vital natural resource for all aspects of human life and health, environmental survival, economic development, good quality of life, social stability and most importantly in this context cultural preserve and cultural development. Lack of freshwater was identified as being one of the major challenges and problems facing humanity in this new century. 11 000 children die every day because they don't have what we take for granted - water. Globally, 1.4 billion people lack secure access of safe drinking water, causing 7 millions of death yearly. . Fast growing problems of water inevitably lead to disaster. Water is not however a source of life but also a source of conflict among and between different communities in many parts of the world, particularly in dry climate areas.
Somalia - the Case Study Area
Somalia is by means an exception in the above situation. There are substantial challenges in the country including water scarcity. Located in a very advantageous region bordering both the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, Somalia (see Figure 1) geographically lies in the Horn of Africa, adjacent to the Arabian Peninsula. Despite being politically disintegrated, Somalia has ethnically and culturally homogenous society. In 1992, severe consequent droughts combined with bloody civil war resulted the largest UN humanitarian efforts and peacekeeping operations in history.
The paper presents a brief about
Abdullahi Elmi Mohamed
B.Sc., M.Sc., Lic. Tech., Ph.D. candidate at the Dept of Land and Water Resources Engineering, Royal University of Technology, Stockholm. Tel: +46 (0)8 761 3552 or +46 (0)70 752 24252 E-mail: elmi@aom.kth.se. Coordinator of the Somali Centre for Water and Environment (SCWE).
Introduction
Water Crisis - A Global Picture
Water is a basic human necessity and a vital natural resource for all aspects of human life and health, environmental survival, economic development, good quality of life, social stability and most importantly in this context cultural preserve and cultural development. Lack of freshwater was identified as being one of the major challenges and problems facing humanity in this new century. 11 000 children die every day because they don't have what we take for granted - water. Globally, 1.4 billion people lack secure access of safe drinking water, causing 7 millions of death yearly. . Fast growing problems of water inevitably lead to disaster. Water is not however a source of life but also a source of conflict among and between different communities in many parts of the world, particularly in dry climate areas.
Somalia - the Case Study Area
Somalia is by means an exception in the above situation. There are substantial challenges in the country including water scarcity. Located in a very advantageous region bordering both the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, Somalia (see Figure 1) geographically lies in the Horn of Africa, adjacent to the Arabian Peninsula. Despite being politically disintegrated, Somalia has ethnically and culturally homogenous society. In 1992, severe consequent droughts combined with bloody civil war resulted the largest UN humanitarian efforts and peacekeeping operations in history.
The paper presents a brief about