Working Group Meeting on Integrated Water Resources Management in Geneva ,
The eleventh meeting of the Working Group on Integrated Water Resources Management ( WGIWRM ) was held on 18 -19 October2016 . The meeting celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the entry into force of the Convention ; and the opening of the Convention to accession by all United Nations members States , in effect since 1 March 2016 . A special session was held dedicated to these two themes in order to discuss the main achievements in transboundary water cooperation under the Convention over the past 20 years and future challenges . In addition , the meeting discussed the strategy for implementation of the Convention at the global level and will review the implementation of the programme of work for 2016 – 2018 . The meeting was held back-to-back with the 20th meeting of the European Union Water Initiative ( EUWI ) Eastern Europe , Caucasus and Central Asia Working Group on 17 October .
World Water Crisis More than one in every six people in the
world is water-stressed , meaning that they do not have access to potable water . Those that are water stressed make up 1.1 billion people in the world and are living in developing countries . According to Falkenmark Water Stress Indication , a country or region is said to experience “ Water Stress ”, when annual water supplies drop below 1700 cu . m . per person per year . At levels between 1700 and 1000 cu . m . per person per year , the country faces water scarcity . In 2006 , about 700 million people in 43 countries were living below 1700 cu . m . per person threshold . The world ’ s most water-stressed region is the Middle East with average of 1200 cu . m . of water per person per year . Another popular opinion is that the amount of available fresh water is decreasing because of climate change . Climate change has caused receding glaciers , reduced stream and river flow , and shrinking lakes and ponds . Many aquifers have been overpumped and are not recharging quickly . Although the total fresh water supply is not used up , much has become polluted , salted , unsuitable or otherwise unavailable for drinking , industry and agriculture purpose . There are several principal manifestations of the water crisis – i ) Inadequate access to safe drinking water for about 884 million people . ii ) Inadequate access to sanitation for 2.5 billion people , which often leads to water pollution .
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Integrated River Basin Management Society