Human Development Report 2006: Beyond Scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis

Throughout history water has confronted humanity with some of its greatest challenges. Water is a source of life and a natural resource that sustains our environments and supports livelihoods - but it is also a source of risk and vulnerability. In the early 21st Century, prospects for human development are threatened by a deepening global water crisis. Debunking the myth that the crisis is the result of scarcity, this report argues poverty, power and inequality are at the heart of the problem.

*Investigates the underlying causes and consequences of a crisis that leaves 1.2 billion people without access to safe water and 2.6 billion without access to sanitation

*Examines the social and economic forces that are driving water shortages and marginalizing the poor in agriculture and examines the scope for international cooperation to resolve cross-border tensions in water management

*Includes special contributions from Gordon Brown and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, President Lula, President Carter, and the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan.

Throughout history water has confronted humanity with some of its greatest challenges. Water is a source of life and a natural resource that sustains our environment and supports livelihoods. But it is also a source of risk and vulnerability. In the early 21st century prospects for human development are threatened by a global water crisis. Debunking the myth that the crisis is the result of scarcity, this Report argues that poverty, power, and inequality are at the heart of the problem.

In a world of unprecedented wealth almost 2 million children die each year for want of clean water and adequate sanitation. Millions of women and young girls are forced to spend hours collecting and carrying water, restricting their opportunities and their choices. And waterborne infectious diseases are holding back economic growth and poverty reduction in some of the world's poorest countries.

Beyond the household, competition for water as a productive resource is intensifying. Symptoms of that competition include collapse of water-based ecological systems, declining river flows and large-scale groundwater depletion. Conflicts over water are intensifying within countries, with th rural poor losing out. The potential for tensions between countries is also growing, though there are large human development gains to be realized from increased cooperation.

The United Nations Development Program is the UN's global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. They are on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and their wide range of partners. Every year since 1990, the UNDP has commissioned the Human Development Report by an independent team of experts to explore major issues of global concern.