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G20 Countries Address Water Security from a Sustainability Perspective

The 2020 G20 Riyadh summit affirms the provision of clean and safe water as an important factor in overcoming the pandemic and protecting people. (Mishaal Al-Qadeer)
The 2020 G20 Riyadh summit affirms the provision of clean and safe water as an important factor in overcoming the pandemic and protecting people. (Mishaal Al-Qadeer)
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G20 Countries Address Water Security from a Sustainability Perspective

The 2020 G20 Riyadh summit affirms the provision of clean and safe water as an important factor in overcoming the pandemic and protecting people. (Mishaal Al-Qadeer)
The 2020 G20 Riyadh summit affirms the provision of clean and safe water as an important factor in overcoming the pandemic and protecting people. (Mishaal Al-Qadeer)

G20 countries, led by Saudi Arabia, have strived to enhance the sustainability and durability of global water systems in light of the many warnings and worst-case scenarios that were drawn around the water file.

Many warn that political pressure surrounding the water file threatens inevitable collision, especially as climate change, war and conflict are increasing poverty and challenging food security.

“We acknowledge that affordable, reliable and safe water, sanitation and hygiene services are essential for human life and that access to clean water is critical to overcome the pandemic,” G20 leaders said in their final communique.

They also welcomed the G20 Dialogue on Water as a basis to share best practices and promote innovation, and new technologies, on a voluntary basis, that will foster sustainable, resilient and integrated water management.

G20 demands on improving water security, however, are challenged by some countries trying to monopolize access to shared water resources.

For example, each of Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia and Uganda are vying for better control over their share of Nile waters.

Tensions among the African nations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile escalated, particularly after Ethiopia announced that it had started filling the GERD’s reservoir, an action contrary to Egypt’s mandate that the dam not be filled without a legally binding agreement over the equitable allocation of the Nile’s waters.

Water scarcity is one of the most pressing global challenges of the 21st century, as it constitutes a serious obstacle to achieving the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Many factors are at play when it comes to securing global demands for water supplies. They include population growth, rapid urbanization, the erosion of water infrastructure and the lack of proper investment.

The Saudi Presidency of the G20 forum worked on reinforcing international cooperation in the field of water management and on pushing to ensure water security for all through establishing vital policies, ensuring adequate financing and promoting innovation.

“Water scarcity affects more than 40 percent of the world's population. At least 4 billion people lack basic sanitation services such as access to latrines and more than 80 percent of wastewater resulting from human activities is discharged into water bodies without any pollution removal,” main representative to the United Nations for sustainable development goals Faisal Al-Fadhl told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Globally, nearly a thousand children die every day from diarrheal diseases that can be prevented by the process of distillation and filtration,” he noted.

“Approximately 70 percent of all water extracted from rivers, lakes and aquifers is used for irrigation purposes, while floods and other water-related calamities account for 70 percent of all deaths related to natural disasters,” he emphasized.

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Damascus’ Mazzeh 86 Neighborhood, Witness of The Two-Assad Era

Members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent stand near the wreckage of a car after what the Syrian state television said was a "guided missile attack" on the car in the Mazzeh area of Damascus, Syria October 21, 2024. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi
Members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent stand near the wreckage of a car after what the Syrian state television said was a "guided missile attack" on the car in the Mazzeh area of Damascus, Syria October 21, 2024. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi
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Damascus’ Mazzeh 86 Neighborhood, Witness of The Two-Assad Era

Members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent stand near the wreckage of a car after what the Syrian state television said was a "guided missile attack" on the car in the Mazzeh area of Damascus, Syria October 21, 2024. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi
Members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent stand near the wreckage of a car after what the Syrian state television said was a "guided missile attack" on the car in the Mazzeh area of Damascus, Syria October 21, 2024. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi

In the Mazzeh 86 neighborhood, west of the Syrian capital Damascus, the names of many shops, grocery stores, and public squares still serve as a reminder of the era of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his late father, Hafez al-Assad.

This is evident in landmarks like the “Al-Hafez Restaurant,” one of the prominent features of this area. Squares such as “Al-Areen,” “Officers,” and “Bride of the Mountain” evoke memories of the buildings surrounding them, which once housed influential officials and high-ranking officers in intelligence and security agencies. These individuals instilled fear in Syrians for five decades until their historic escape on the night of the regime’s collapse last month.

In this neighborhood, the effects of Israeli bombing are clearly visible, as it was targeted multiple times. Meanwhile, its narrow streets and alleys were strewn with military uniforms abandoned by leaders who fled before military operations arrived and liberated the area from their grip on December 8 of last year.

Here, stark contradictions come to light during a tour by Asharq Al-Awsat in a district that, until recently, was largely loyal to the former president. Muaz, a 42-year-old resident of the area, recounts how most officers and security personnel shed their military uniforms and discarded them in the streets on the night of Assad’s escape.

He said: “Many of them brought down their weapons and military ranks in the streets and fled to their hometowns along the Syrian coast.”

Administratively part of Damascus, Mazzeh 86 consists of concrete blocks randomly built between the Mazzeh Western Villas area, the Mazzeh Highway, and the well-known Sheikh Saad commercial district. Its ownership originally belonged to the residents of the Mazzeh area in Damascus. The region was once agricultural land and rocky mountain terrain. The peaks extending toward Mount Qasioun were previously seized by the Ministry of Defense, which instructed security and army personnel to build homes there without requiring property ownership documents.

Suleiman, a 30-year-old shop owner, who sells white meat and chicken, hails from the city of Jableh in the coastal province of Latakia. His father moved to this neighborhood in the 1970s to work as an army assistant.

Suleiman says he hears the sound of gunfire every evening, while General Security patrols roam the streets “searching for remnants of the former regime and wanted individuals who refuse to surrender their weapons. We fear reprisals and just want to live in peace.”

He mentioned that prices before December 8 were exorbitant and beyond the purchasing power of Syrians, with the price of a kilogram of chicken exceeding 60,000 Syrian pounds and a carton of eggs reaching 75,000.

“A single egg was sold for 2,500 pounds, which is far beyond the purchasing power of any employee in the public or private sector,” due to low salaries and the deteriorating living conditions across the country,” Suleiman added.

On the sides of the roads, pictures of the fugitive president and his father, Hafez al-Assad, were torn down, while military vehicles were parked, awaiting instructions.

Maram, 46, who previously worked as a civilian employee in the Ministry of Defense, says she is waiting for the resolution of employment statuses for workers in army institutions. She stated: “So far, there are no instructions regarding our situation. The army forces and security personnel have been given the opportunity for settlement, but there is no talk about us.”

The neighborhood, in its current form, dates back to the 1980s when Rifaat al-Assad, the younger brother of former President Hafez al-Assad, was allowed to construct the “Defense Palace,” which was referred to as “Brigade 86.” Its location is the same area now known as Mazzeh Jabal 86.

The area is divided into two parts: Mazzeh Madrasa (School) and Mazzeh Khazan (Tank). The first takes its name from the first school built and opened in the area, while the second is named after the water tank that supplies the entire Mazzeh region.

Two sources from the Mazzeh Municipality and the Mukhtar’s office estimate the neighborhood’s current population at approximately 200,000, down from over 300,000 before Assad’s fall. Most residents originate from Syria’s coastal regions, followed by those from interior provinces like Homs and Hama. There was also a portion of Kurds who had moved from the Jazira region in northeastern Syria to live there, but most returned to their areas due to the security grip and after the “Crisis Cell” bombing that killed senior security officials in mid-2012.

Along the main street connecting Al-Huda Square to Al-Sahla Pharmacy, torn images of President Hafez al-Assad are visible for the first time in this area in five decades. On balconies and walls, traces of Bashar al-Assad’s posters remain, bearing witness to his 24-year era.