We Are Water Foundation

At the General Assembly of the United Nations, held in New York in September, more than one hundred heads of State and Government met to deal with the problem of desertification and drought that is affecting the whole world at an alarming rate.

In his opening speech, the General Secretary of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, pointed out the main objective marked by the Assembly: the end of the deterioration of the soil in a decade. "Recent studies show that the degradation of the soil is occurring in humid and tropical areas at a greater speed than ever", stated the General Secretary. "It is a phenomenon that today affects all the regions of the world. Today we are adopting as a goal the end of the deterioration of the soil at the end of this decade. We make the sustainable use of the soil a central theme of the green economy for the eradication of poverty and for sustainable development". This call strengthens and is in line with the guidelines framed last year with the launch by the UN of the Decade for Deserts and the Fight Against Desertification, an initiative that was agreed in light of the concern with the increasing deterioration of the situation of desertification in all the regions of the world and its implications for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, and very especially to eradicate poverty and to ensure sustainable development.

The president of the session of the Assembly, Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, warned of the seriousness of the process that is developing at a global level: "The three pillars of sustainable development will disappear unless desertification, the deterioration of the soil and drought are dealt with urgently in every part of the world in which they occur". Al-Nasser also confirmed that many leaders of the Assembly support the establishment of an advisory panel to strengthen the scientific base of the work that must be carried out worldwide, one of the fundamental aspects for achieving the objectives set for the next 10 years.

The Assembly also concluded that one of the fundamental aims to achieve is the creation of a worldwide policy network and a supervisory framework to improve the funding activities that provide the means to resolve the problems of the soil and to build a world with "zero" soil deterioration.

Of special relevance in the Assembly were the interventions of the delegates of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) that was adopted by the member countries on 17 June 1994 in Paris and which is the only legally binding international agreement that relates the environment, development and promoting the health of the soil. Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary of the UNCCD, underlined during the Assembly: "For life on Earth to be sustainable, we must build a world with a neutral deterioration of the soil. If we do not undertake decisive actions to protect, restore and manage the sustainability of the Earth and the soil, we will not be able to lessen climate change, protect biodiversity and the forests and achieve the Millennium Development Goals". As from this UN Assembly and the next sessions of the UNCCD, guidelines will be outlined along with the creation of a world policy network and a supervisory framework will be set up to solve the problems of the deterioration of the land.

Additionally, all the members agreed that on not achieving these objectives, it will be very difficult to alleviate rural poverty, hunger and achieve long-term food security as well as resistance to droughts and lack of water. Moreover, if this situation is not dealt with as it should be, more political conflicts will be produced due to the scarcity of resources and more forced migrations.

The We Are Water Foundation shares the global objectives of the UNCCD and its philosophy is framed within the Millennium Development Goals set out by the UN. These principles are present actively in its cooperation projects, some of which, such as the Bosawas, Gajikunta and Ethiopia projects, intervene directly in alleviating the effects of desertification, deterioration of the soil and drought.

Alarming data of deterioration

The Assembly showed data that warns of the seriousness of the problem. Every year we lose around 24,000 million tons of fertile soil, with an estimated increased loss over the next years of between 30 and 35 times that figure. Furthermore, due to the phenomena of desertification and drought caused by human intervention, some 12 million hectares will turn into veritable deserts every year.

It was also pointed out that the deterioration of the soil is a global phenomenon. In fact, 78% of the land that is deteriorating is not in the dry zones; as a recent publication of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) shows, 900 million hectares of deteriorated soil still provide opportunities of restoration.

The Assembly reiterated the urgent need for greater international awareness regarding the question that dramatically affects the sustainability of the planet and emphasised the priority of making a big effort to solve the problem. These points were highlighted by the President of Namibia, Hifikenye Pohambo, who added: "The deterioration of the soil is a world problem, so it should be dealt with through joint efforts and cooperation".

Desertification and desert, two distinct concepts

It is important to clarify the meaning of desertification, about which the UN will be working over the next 10 years.

According to the international definition established by the UNCCD, desertification is the deterioration of arid, semi-arid lands and dry sub-humid zones, and this phenomenon is mainly caused by human actions and climatic variations. This is why when we speak of desertification we are not speaking about the expansion of existing deserts at all. This phenomenon is caused by the extreme vulnerability and overexploitation and inappropriate use of the land of ecosystems of arid lands, which cover one third of the total of the Earth.

Poverty, political instability, deforestation and incorrect irrigation practices can undermine the fertility of the land. The alteration of the natural water cycle is always present in these processes and is caused by both direct human actions in the setting and by climate change.

The dry zones are experiencing a high degree of stress due to the lack of water

The Assembly worked with data resulting from scientific studies by the UN and the FAO that pointed out the current relation between availability and scarcity of water, on the one hand, and drought and aridity on the other, since water acts as a fundamental raw material for the soil, primary production and recycling of nutrients.

One of the most relevant items of data that shows the seriousness of the problem is the fact that if every person needs a minimum of 2,000 cubic litres of water per year, the inhabitants of the arid zone only have 1,300 and everything points to this figure dropping over the next few years. Additionally, in dry lands, the scarcity of water is greater and this increases in line with the aridity of the soil. Today, the scarcity of water is affecting between 1,000 and 2,000 million people in the world and the majority of them live in dry zones.

Moreover, due to climate change, it is calculated that around half of the world population in 2030 will live in zones affected by a high degree of stress due to hydric deficit. This will lead to a forced displacement of between 24 and 700 million people in some arid and semi-arid areas.

The We Are Water Foundation

The We Are Water Foundation, promoted by the Roca company, aims to raise awareness amongst the population about the need to alleviate the negative effects related to the lack of hydric resources in the world, encouraging a new culture of water and through the undertaking of projects of cooperation and support to diverse organisations such as Education without Frontiers, the Vicente Ferrer Foundation, Intermon Oxfam and UNICEF.