Water-Migration Nexus Policy Paper // Migration and its Interdependencies with Water Scarcity, Gender and Youth Employment
By Michaela Miletto, Martina A. Caretta, Francesca M. Burchi and Giulia Zanlucchi. This WWAP publication presents a review of the climate, water and migration nexus, with a specific focus on those who are often more vulnerable, particularly women and youth. It highlights the fundamental role played by water in securing social stability and resilience to environmental stresses, and calls for a major effort to improve water security and governance.
This paper seeks to assess the interdependencies among water scarcity, youth unemployment and migration. It also attempts to unravel the different roles of women and men in the gendered migration process.
Evidence shows that growing climatic variability has impacts on water availability and quality, which in turn jeopardizes social stability and jobs for the younger generations. This is particularly true in arid and semi-arid regions, where often migration is both the result of and a way to adapt to climate-induced environmental stresses. This paper makes the case that medium- to long-term strategies to mitigate social unrest, improve livelihoods of communities and individuals, and reinforce resilience to environmental stresses should include a special focus on improving water supply, access and governance.
Finally, the paper provides an overview of migration hotspots, in particular on the originating and transit countries in Africa, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and South and East Asia.
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Published
September 2017
By
United Nations World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP)
UNESCO