UN: Middle East Droughts Will Worsen, Be Prepared

The United Nations warned on Friday, June 15, that the water scarcity situation in Middle Eastern and North African countries is expected to worsen. The organization cautioned that countries in this region must better prepare to combat drought. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has stated that both the frequency and duration of droughts in the region have increased over the past 40 years. The report indicates that the Middle East and North Africa, which have extensive deserts, will face more serious water issues due to climatic conditions. The FAO has advised regional countries to move beyond conventional responses to the impacts of drought crises and instead adopt serious and multi-faceted plans. The FAO's climate change office stated: "We need to change drought management and shift from emergency responses to more proactive and long-term policies to mitigate risks and enhance resilience." The FAO report suggested that agriculture should shift towards crops that require less water, utilize better irrigation systems, or reduce livestock numbers to avoid overgrazing. The report mentions that some villages in southwestern Morocco, near the Sahara Desert, are implementing a project to collect fog and convert it into water to address water scarcity. It also states that rapid population growth and food demand, combined with water resource shortages, could lead to food prices doubling and internal unrest in some developing countries. According to the 2018 annual World Water Development Report, water resource scarcity currently threatens 40% of the world's population. The report indicates that due to global warming and climate change, this figure is expected to rise, with predictions that by 2025, one in four people will face severe or recurrent water shortages. Isa Kalantari, head of Iran's Environmental Protection Organization, previously stated that currently over 70% of the country's population is at risk of "water scarcity," and the per capita water availability this solar year has surpassed critical conditions. Reza Ardakanian, the Minister of Energy, has also described the year 2018 as the hardest year for water supply in the country in the last half-century, warning that 334 cities in Iran, with a population of 35 million, are currently in a state of water stress. The Israeli Prime Minister recently stated in a video message, citing statistics provided by Iranian institutions and officials regarding the serious drought and water crisis in Iran, that Israel has knowledge and experience in dealing with these crises and is making it available to the people and farmers of Iran through a website in Persian. Iranian officials reacted to this action by the Israeli government, calling it a "deceptive trick."