World Water Day at the UN House in Moscow highlights the problem of scarcity

Today, 2.1 billion people do not have access to safe water resources due to factors such as economic status, gender, ethnicity, religion and age. Soaring demand compounded by poor management exacerbated water scarcity in many parts of the world at the same time as the effects of climate change intensify. .

By 2030, an estimated 700 million people worldwide could be displaced because of extreme water scarcity, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stressed in his message on the occasion of World Water Day (WWD).

This year the UN agencies in Moscow marked WWD on March 21 with a seminar involving academic experts and a photo exhibition organized by the International wildlife festival “Golden Turtle”.

In his speech, Vladimir Mikheev, communication specialist of the FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation, elaborated on the problem of water scarcity and water resources, which is already detrimental and affects the way of life of more than 40% of the world's population.

Many sectors of the economy depend on the availability of water: agriculture, fisheries, energy, industry, health. Three out of four jobs in the world also depend on the availability of water resources. Lack of water and lack of access to water can and do already constrain economic growth.

By 2050, 4 billion people will suffer from water shortage. The reasons are apparent: urbanization, rapid development of large industrial centers, pollution of water reservoirs and their exhausted capacity for self-purification.

FAO has established a Platform on water resources, developed a methodology to address competition for scarce water resources, efficient water use and productivity build-up.

The new FAO Concept on water resources management in agriculture involves modernization of irrigation systems, improvement of the collection and storage of rainwater at farm level, processing and reuse of water, pollution control of water sources, replacement and reduction of food waste, Mikheev underlined.

There is an urgent necessity to promote broad awareness of the growing problems of water scarcity. Experts could play a leading role in this process encouraging the authorities to take meaningful action to tackle the issue.