UN meet to seek global action against weaponization of water in conflicts

As India halts Indus Waters Treaty, Slovenia and others push to declare access to water a universal right and shield freshwater from becoming a tool of war

NEW YORK (MNTV) –  A high-level United Nations meeting on Friday will seek urgent global action against the weaponization of water in armed conflicts—an escalating crisis that threatens millions of lives worldwide.

The meeting comes amid growing concern over India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, a move that has triggered unease in diplomatic circles.

Slovenia, a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, is spearheading efforts to elevate water as a protected civilian right under international law.

The country is leading Arria Formula Meeting at the UN Headquarters in New York titled “Freshwater Resources and Related Infrastructure under Attack: Protecting Water in Armed Conflict – Protecting Civilian Lives.”

The session is supported by 10 other countries, including Costa Rica, Indonesia, Mozambique, Switzerland and Vietnam, and will be chaired by Slovenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Melita Gabrič.

The urgency of the meeting stems from an alarming global trend: water infrastructure is increasingly targeted or exploited in armed conflicts, contributing to a humanitarian disaster.

With over 120 active armed conflicts currently raging across the world, attacks on water systems are threatening public health, exacerbating displacement, and dismantling decades of development in some of the world’s most vulnerable regions.

India’s suspension of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty—an agreement long hailed as a rare symbol of cooperation between two arch-rivals—has raised fears that water may become a geopolitical weapon.

India’s move, seen by many as an attempt to pressure Pakistan amid strained relations, has drawn quiet criticism from several quarters. While no official condemnation has yet emerged from the UN, diplomatic sources told MNTV that Slovenia and other member states have voiced unease over the precedent it sets.

“Water is not just a resource. It is life. Turning it into a tool of war crosses a humanitarian red line,” said a European diplomat attending the event.

According to a 2023 UN Secretary-General’s report (S/2023/345), deliberate or collateral damage to freshwater resources and related infrastructure—including wells, pipelines, pumping stations and water treatment plants—is a growing trend in contemporary warfare.

These attacks are not only devastating in the short term but also cause cascading long-term effects: disease outbreaks, malnutrition, forced displacement, and the collapse of economies.

Key speakers at the UN meeting include Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC); Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO); Ted Chaiban, Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF; and Mehwash Ansari, Regional Head of Program for Africa at Geneva Call.

In many conflict zones, women and girls are primarily responsible for collecting water—a task that becomes dangerous amid war, exposing them to gender-based violence and increasing their physical burden.

“Water is used as leverage, a weapon, and even a means of starvation,” said Ansari. “This undermines international humanitarian law and constitutes a war crime.”

International humanitarian law already prohibits the destruction or denial of access to infrastructure critical for civilian survival. Specifically, water installations and irrigation works are protected under the Geneva Conventions. Yet, implementation remains inconsistent, and enforcement weak.

UN Security Council Resolutions—including 2365 (2017), 2417 (2018), 2573 (2021), 2664 (2022), and the recent 2730 (2024)—have reaffirmed the need to shield civilian infrastructure, including water systems. However, as Slovenia’s position paper notes, attacks persist not due to gaps in law but due to a lack of compliance and accountability.

“Without meaningful enforcement, these protections exist only on paper,” said Gabrič in a statement. “The time has come to transform law into action, rhetoric into responsibility.”

The meeting seeks to answer three core questions:

1. How can the international community reverse the normalization of attacks on water infrastructure and foster adherence to international law?
2. In protracted conflicts, how can humanitarian actors better mitigate both the immediate and cumulative damage to water systems and public health?
3. What steps can the Security Council take to translate existing evidence into concrete action for better protection?

In urban areas, where water systems are intricately connected with other infrastructure, even minor damage can lead to a ripple effect—disrupting sanitation, healthcare, education and food supply chains. Repeated attacks can cause an irreversible collapse of entire municipal systems, according to UNICEF reports cited in the meeting’s background note.

Humanitarian consequences

The denial of access to clean water often forces civilians to rely on contaminated sources, triggering outbreaks of waterborne diseases such as cholera and hepatitis.

In response, families must divert scarce financial resources away from essentials like health and education to buy water, which further entrenches poverty and inequality.

This not only deepens suffering but also undoes years of development work.

According to UNICEF’s Water Under Fire report (2021), children are among the most affected, facing higher risks of death from dehydration and disease, while also being pulled out of school for water collection or labor. In such contexts, water scarcity becomes both a cause and a consequence of conflict, perpetuating cycles of instability.

Diplomatic sources say that a UN Security Council resolution specifically recognizing attacks on water infrastructure as a threat to international peace and security. Therefore, there is a call for stronger monitoring, accountability mechanisms and recognition of water as a universal right, protected under international law without exception.

The initiative reflects a broader shift in humanitarian diplomacy, where environmental security is no longer viewed merely as a development issue but as an urgent component of global peacekeeping and conflict resolution.

As the world watches India’s handling of the Indus Waters Treaty and similar flashpoints around the globe, this UN meeting underscores a critical message: water is not a weapon. It is a right, a lifeline—and increasingly, a red line in modern warfare.