WASHINGTON, D.C. /eNewsChannels/ — In a speech commemorating World Water Day, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton today launched a new partnership to improve water security. The U.S. Water Partnership (USWP) is a public-private partnership that seeks to mobilize U.S.-based knowledge, expertise and resources to improve water security around the world – particularly in those countries most in need.
Secretary Clinton also announced the release today of an Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) on Global Water Security. The ICA is based on a National Intelligence Estimate requested by Secretary Clinton a year earlier to assess the impact of global water issues on U.S. national security interests. The report concludes that while wars over water are unlikely within the next ten years, water challenges – shortages, poor water quality, floods – will likely increase the risk of instability and state failure, exacerbate regional tensions, and distract countries from working with the United States on important policy objectives.
The ICA also notes that, as a consequence of water problems globally, the demand for U.S. assistance and expertise will increase. The U.S. Water Partnership launched today will help meet this need by creating a platform for fostering new partnerships among the U.S.-based private sector and the non-profit, academic, scientific, and expert communities. The Partnership will mobilize the “Best-of-America” to provide safe drinking water and sanitation and improve water resources management worldwide.
Secretary Clinton was joined by Representative Earl Blumenauer in welcoming representatives of eighteen USWP members today, including Africare, the Coca-Cola Company, Procter & Gamble, the Nature Conservancy, Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Motor Company, Skoll Global Threats Fund, the Water Institute at the University of North Carolina, World Resources Institute, Global Environment & Technology Foundation, Global Water Challenge, and Clean Water America Alliance. Representatives of U.S. Government partners participated from: U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; U.S. Agency for International Development; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and U.S. Department of the Interior, in addition to the U.S. Department of State.
In her remarks today, the Secretary stated: “We believe this Water Partnership will help map out our route to a more water secure world: a world where no one dies from water-related diseases; where water does not impede social or economic development; and where no war is ever fought over water.”
More information about the USWP can be found online at: http://www.state.gov/e/oes/rls/fs/2012/186581.htm
The full ICA report is available online at: www.dni.gov/nic/ICA_Global Water Security.pdf.
