The Role of the United Nations in Addressing the Challenges of Water Security

The presentation will evaluate the relative importance of the many uses for which water resources are critical. Water of food, health, energy, industry and for the natural environment all compete for attention in a world where demand is, in most places, increasing dramatically. Competition is particularly severe in the urban communities of the developing world threatening social cohesion. Security is also threatened by floods, by droughts and by pollution of water systems. The ways in which the United Nations system of agencies is addressing these concerns in an integrated fashion is described and evaluated.