Water related disasters, like floods and droughts, are a major impediment for development. Annual economic losses from water-related disasters are comparable with the annual flow of development aid. There are 25 targets related to disaster reduction in 10 of the 17 SDGs, and water is explicit or implicit in those.
An United Nations University – Institute for Water Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) initiative will focus on the assessment of effectiveness of various disaster-reduction measures like flood and drought warning systems, on developing the ideas around surface and subsurface “nature-based solutions” for flood and drought management, on promoting sustainable and “green” water storage infrastructure planning and development, and on a range of aspects that help alleviate water-related health risks (e.g. malaria, arsenic) through water management itself.
- Organization: UNU-INWEH