TY - JOUR
T1 - A social-ecological systems perspective on the impacts of armed conflict on water resources management
T2 - Case studies from the Middle East
AU - Schillinger, Juliane
AU - Özerol, Gül
AU - Heldeweg, Michiel A.
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding for the data collection in Palestine was provided by the Netherlands Representative Office in Ramallah through the Palestinian-Dutch Academic Cooperation Programme on Water (PADUCO). JS is funded by the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
Funding Information:
When financial support by the government is impossible or insufficient, international humanitarian organizations and development agencies can intervene. Such interventions usually take place within emergency projects and short funding periods to minimize the financial risk in the case of conflict escalation. Additionally, funds are often available for repairing damaged water facilities or constructing new facilities, but not for long-term O&M. The Gaza Strip is a microcosm of challenges related to international financial support, including ‘no contact’ policies enforced by many international organizations towards Hamas, institutional pluralism and donor fatigue. Such challenges can cause a disconnect between internationally funded projects and the local needs and development plans ( Barakat et al., 2018; UN OCHA OPT, 2010 ) 28 28 . The ‘competition’ between conflicts over the limited amount of humanitarian aid available further disadvantages protracted conflict areas, as funds are allocated towards new crises in other countries 29 29 .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors
PY - 2022/7
Y1 - 2022/7
N2 - Armed conflicts disrupt social, environmental and economic processes. This includes water resources management and the provision of water services, with numerous implications for human security and environmental sustainability. Such impacts go beyond direct, immediately visible effects and can have far-reaching, long-term consequences. However, the understanding of these indirect conflict impacts in different social and political contexts is still limited. In order to address this knowledge gap, we build on the social-ecological systems framework to differentiate between direct and indirect conflict impacts and to analyze their effects on the water system. We then apply the framework to map direct and indirect impacts of armed conflict on water resources management, using empirical data from eleven cases in Iraq, Syria, Palestine and Yemen. This allows us to identify pathways in which conflict impacts are propagated through the water system. The results show the central role of financial mechanisms in upholding water resources management throughout conflict and the importance of enforcing international humanitarian law on the protection of civilian infrastructure. They also highlight the value of system-based approaches in revealing cumulative effects that can reinforce conflict impacts within the system, and in identifying potential obstacles for coping strategies employed by local populations throughout the conflict.
AB - Armed conflicts disrupt social, environmental and economic processes. This includes water resources management and the provision of water services, with numerous implications for human security and environmental sustainability. Such impacts go beyond direct, immediately visible effects and can have far-reaching, long-term consequences. However, the understanding of these indirect conflict impacts in different social and political contexts is still limited. In order to address this knowledge gap, we build on the social-ecological systems framework to differentiate between direct and indirect conflict impacts and to analyze their effects on the water system. We then apply the framework to map direct and indirect impacts of armed conflict on water resources management, using empirical data from eleven cases in Iraq, Syria, Palestine and Yemen. This allows us to identify pathways in which conflict impacts are propagated through the water system. The results show the central role of financial mechanisms in upholding water resources management throughout conflict and the importance of enforcing international humanitarian law on the protection of civilian infrastructure. They also highlight the value of system-based approaches in revealing cumulative effects that can reinforce conflict impacts within the system, and in identifying potential obstacles for coping strategies employed by local populations throughout the conflict.
KW - UT-Hybrid-D
U2 - 10.1016/j.geoforum.2022.05.001
DO - 10.1016/j.geoforum.2022.05.001
M3 - Article
SN - 0016-7185
VL - 133
SP - 101
EP - 116
JO - Geoforum
JF - Geoforum
ER -