Pathway from water-conflict to water-peace in the Middle East and North Africa

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, with its arid and semi-arid climate, faces profound challenges in managing limited water resources. These challenges are further intensified by political tensions and socioeconomic inequalities, often resulting in water being an essential element in co...

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Autores principales: Khalifa, Muhammad, Al-Zu’bi, Maha, Brouziyne, Youssef
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: IWA Publishing 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173829
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author Khalifa, Muhammad
Al-Zu’bi, Maha
Brouziyne, Youssef
author_browse Al-Zu’bi, Maha
Brouziyne, Youssef
Khalifa, Muhammad
author_facet Khalifa, Muhammad
Al-Zu’bi, Maha
Brouziyne, Youssef
author_sort Khalifa, Muhammad
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, with its arid and semi-arid climate, faces profound challenges in managing limited water resources. These challenges are further intensified by political tensions and socioeconomic inequalities, often resulting in water being an essential element in conflicts and tensions. Particularly during the last decade, the number of conflicts involving water has increased dramatically in MENA. This research explores the dynamics of water’s role in conflicts, actors and scales of conflict across five fragile MENA countries, where it serves as a weapon, a catalyst, and a casualty. The analysis revealed a significant increase in the number of water-related incidents during the last two decades in these countries, with devastating implications on multiple social, economic, and security dimensions. The study suggests a concentric circle transformation (CCT) framework with three tiers of strategies: foundational, supportive, and expansive to help move from water-conflict to water-peace in MENA. These strategies, with examples of interventions, support transformation to water-peace by integrating soft interventions like empowering local communities, raising awareness, with hard interventions such as building resilient infrastructures and leveraging the power of innovative technological solutions. The framework offers scalable and adaptable solutions for regions facing similar challenges globally.
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spelling CGSpace1738292025-10-26T12:51:05Z Pathway from water-conflict to water-peace in the Middle East and North Africa Khalifa, Muhammad Al-Zu’bi, Maha Brouziyne, Youssef water scarcity conflicts frameworks strategies intervention awareness-raising water resources water availability climate change political aspects socioeconomic aspects The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, with its arid and semi-arid climate, faces profound challenges in managing limited water resources. These challenges are further intensified by political tensions and socioeconomic inequalities, often resulting in water being an essential element in conflicts and tensions. Particularly during the last decade, the number of conflicts involving water has increased dramatically in MENA. This research explores the dynamics of water’s role in conflicts, actors and scales of conflict across five fragile MENA countries, where it serves as a weapon, a catalyst, and a casualty. The analysis revealed a significant increase in the number of water-related incidents during the last two decades in these countries, with devastating implications on multiple social, economic, and security dimensions. The study suggests a concentric circle transformation (CCT) framework with three tiers of strategies: foundational, supportive, and expansive to help move from water-conflict to water-peace in MENA. These strategies, with examples of interventions, support transformation to water-peace by integrating soft interventions like empowering local communities, raising awareness, with hard interventions such as building resilient infrastructures and leveraging the power of innovative technological solutions. The framework offers scalable and adaptable solutions for regions facing similar challenges globally. 2025-03-01 2025-03-25T04:46:33Z 2025-03-25T04:46:33Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173829 en Open Access IWA Publishing Khalifa, Muhammad; Al-Zu’bi, Maha; Brouziyne, Youssef. 2025. Pathway from water-conflict to water-peace in the Middle East and North Africa. Water Practice and Technology, 20(3):671-684. [doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/wpt.2025.038]
spellingShingle water scarcity
conflicts
frameworks
strategies
intervention
awareness-raising
water resources
water availability
climate change
political aspects
socioeconomic aspects
Khalifa, Muhammad
Al-Zu’bi, Maha
Brouziyne, Youssef
Pathway from water-conflict to water-peace in the Middle East and North Africa
title Pathway from water-conflict to water-peace in the Middle East and North Africa
title_full Pathway from water-conflict to water-peace in the Middle East and North Africa
title_fullStr Pathway from water-conflict to water-peace in the Middle East and North Africa
title_full_unstemmed Pathway from water-conflict to water-peace in the Middle East and North Africa
title_short Pathway from water-conflict to water-peace in the Middle East and North Africa
title_sort pathway from water conflict to water peace in the middle east and north africa
topic water scarcity
conflicts
frameworks
strategies
intervention
awareness-raising
water resources
water availability
climate change
political aspects
socioeconomic aspects
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173829
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