The president of the International Eurasian Press Fund (IEPF) Umud Mirzayev spoke about the problem of water supply in the world during the 40th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council. He mentioned the devastating features of conflicts and wars, which lead the humanitarian crisis.

"Today is the highest historical period of devastating effects of wars, ethnic and religious conflicts, territorial disputes and terrorist attacks, economic crisis, and environmental disasters. Conflicts in more than 50 countries around the world, as well as serious disasters, economic and ecological risks led by the wars, forced 65 million people to leave their homes," Mirzayev told.

It is a fact that, in many regions, people are fighting for each drop of water. In the countries where agriculture is a major activity, water scarcity forces people to migrate.

"Water is essential for life, human dignity, and the health of people. In July 2010 United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution, which recognized the human right to water and sanitation. In September 2016, United Nations Member States committed themselves to ensure access to safe drinking water and to sanitation in Goal 6 of SDGs," IEPF president said.

Umud Mirzayev noted that water scarcity is used for political interests without any attention to the international documents, international norms, and standards, which aimed to support peace, security and sustainable development.

"How can we invest in natural infrastructure development if there is the occupation and illegal control of water resources such as it is in my country Azerbaijan, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq, Yemen?" he raised a question.

"Approximately 83 percent of Syrian refugees live in the cities and towns, where there is limited water supply or where the water is full of landmines and unexploded ordnance. The Middle East and North Africa suffer from instability and water scarcity. Water shortage hugely impacts on the daily life of people living in disputed areas."

"The country where I was born, Azerbaijan, is one of the countries, which suffer from the occupation almost 30 years. Today, there are more than 1.2 million of refugees and IDPs. In the end of the 1980s the Armenian forces occupied 20% of Azerbaijani lands – the territories of Nagorno-Karabakh and 7 surrounded regions. Apart from this since 1992, the largest water reservoir of Azerbaijan, Sarsang, is controlled by the Armenian armed forces," he told.

"This reservoir was built to provide irrigation water to almost 96 thousands of hectares. Thousands of people suffer in the result of this occupation and water scarcity. The biggest part of the population in these regions is refugees and IDPs."

The IEPF president called all the civil society representatives, refugees and IDPs to stand together, to unite the efforts and start a collaboration to transfer a source of potential water crisis into an instrument of water for peace.

In the end of his speech, Umud Mirzayev offered to watch a short video prepared by the IEPF, which shows a clear picture of the water problem in the region and in the world.