Welcome to Northwestern University’s Fourth Annual Symposium on Water in Israel and the Middle East
It is my pleasure and honor to welcome you to Northwestern University’s Fourth Annual Symposium on Water in Israel and the Middle East. The theme this year, “Drought, Insecurity, and Conflict” is a triumvirate of pernicious, and far too common, phenomena. Currently, four billion people live in water-scarce regions for at least one month of the year. Unfortunately, droughts are projected to become more severe, frequent, and prolonged. Indeed, by mid-century, the number of people living with water scarcity is predicted to rise to five billion. Drought, insecurity, and conflict create the conditions that undermine health by lowering economic productivity; triggering and perpetuating domestic, social, inter-communal and political tensions and conflicts; and reinforcing environmental, social, and gender inequities.
The last three UN Secretaries have predicted that water will increasingly be a trigger for and weapon of conflict. Water has played a major role in conflict in at least 45 countries, many of which are in the Middle East and North Africa. Numerous national institutions and international agencies have declared meeting the challenges of declining and inequitable water supplies to be an urgent priority. But water can also be a source of hope, peace, and prosperity. Pursuant to the UN’s High Level Panel on Water (HLPW) declaration of a Decade of Water Action, we convene today to identify steps towards protecting the resource that distinguishes us from any other planet in the universe: water.
Water has been the focus of many research projects and events through the coordinated collaboration between the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and the McCormick School of Engineering. It is our hope that discussions at Northwestern today continue to build towards hope, peace, and prosperity for Israel, the Middle East, and beyond.
Sera L. Young, MA, PhD
Assistant Professor, Anthropology & Global Health
Faculty Fellow, Institute for Policy Research