World Bank, UN call for efforts to tackle water insecurity, climate crisis in Horn of Africa

Cape Town, June 5 (FN Agency) The World Bank, United Nations agencies, and regional organisations have called for more investment in water management as the climate crisis is heightening water stress in the Horn of Africa. Representatives from eight UN agencies, the World Bank, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, development and humanitarian partners, civil society organisations, and the private sector met in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Tuesday for a strategic partners’ dialogue to strengthen regional cooperation on water management. According to the organisations, up to one in five people in the Horn of Africa lacks access to clean and safe water in a region hit hard by recurrent droughts and floods.

“Development and climate financing, as well as investments through collaborative and innovative initiatives, are required to enable people in the region to thrive today and in the future,” the partners said in a statement issued in Nairobi. About 30 percent of the region’s population lives in arid and semi-arid areas, exposing them to the risks of water insecurity, they said, noting that much of the region faces water shortages for at least three months of the year. The organisations cautioned that without concerted action, water insecurity and climate change-related shocks may undermine national development agendas across the Horn of Africa.