Water Poverty in Kabul: A Complex Legacy of War, Environmental Mismanagement, and Climate Change
Publisher: Legal Service India
Author(s): Qadriya Hashimi, Adela Stanikzai, Hasina Rassuli, Nasima Esa Zada, Bahara Kaihan, and Palwasha Muhammadi
Date: 2024
Topics: Basic Services, Climate Change, Governance, Renewable Resources
Countries: Afghanistan
When we turn on the television, scroll through social media, or read the latest headlines in the newspaper, one theme that consistently emerges in discussions about Afghanistan is poverty. This poverty, however, is not limited to financial deprivation alone. It often manifests in two critical forms: food insecurity and water scarcity. While food poverty and malnutrition are immediate concerns for the Afghan population, a growing crisis has emerged in recent years that directly affects Kabul we term it as water poverty.
Water and poverty are fundamentally interconnected, with poor access to water and inadequate sanitation serving as key determinants of health, food security, and economic opportunity for impoverished populations. In regions such as Asia and the Pacific, where nearly 900 million of the world's poorest individuals reside, these challenges are particularly acute. According to recent estimates, approximately one in three individuals in this region lacks access to safe drinking water, while half of the population remains without adequate sanitation facilities.