The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterreslamented today from Baghdad that “today, the tigers and the Euphrates they are drying up” as their water flows have decreased “drastically” due to the construction of dams mainly in Turkey, mismanagement of water and the climate crisis.
“Iraq’s water scarcity is exacerbated by reduced inflows from abroad, unsustainable water management and now increasingly climate change. It is a threat that requires international attention,” Guterres said at a press conference from Baghdad with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al Sudani.
He recalled that Mesopotamia (historical territory comprising present-day Iraq) means “the land between the rivers” and that, here, “agriculture first flourished about 10,000 years ago.”
It breaks my heart to see farmers forced to abandon land where they have grown for millennia.”
lamented Guterres, about the severe drought that the country is going through and that affects its water resources and food security.
The drought in Iraq has also worsened in recent years due to record low rainfall and rising temperatures, factors that show that “Iraq is one of the countries most affected by climate change,” according to the Secretary General of Iraq. the ONU.
The Portuguese recalled that global warming also “generates displacement, threatens food security, destroys livelihoods, fuels conflicts and undermines human rights, particularly for the most vulnerable populations.”
In this sense, he declared that at the end of this month the UN Water Conference will take place in New York, in which he expects the participation of Iraq.
For his part, the Iraqi prime minister indicated that there are areas registered as World Heritage Sites that are “threatened by water scarcity”, adding that these repercussions “coincide with the water policy of neighboring countries”.
In Iraq, the drought has been going on for more than three years, between accusations from Baghdad to the countries in the basin of its two main rivers, mainly Turkey (where both the Euphrates and Tigris are born) and Iran (where the Karun, an important tributary, comes from of the Tigris), of not complying with the agreements regarding water quotas.
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