Thematic Report: Water as a Right and a Field of Struggle in the Arab World: An Analysis of Water-Related Protests

Introduction

Over the past two decades, the Arab region has experienced a significant increase in water-related protests, highlighting water as a critical and contested resource central to social and political tensions. In villages, working-class neighborhoods, agricultural areas, and peri-urban zones, public demands for equitable and safe access to water are increasingly visible. These movements frequently oppose privatization, denounce the contamination of drinking water sources, and challenge large-scale policies that redistribute resources in ways that exacerbate existing structural inequalities. These protests reflect more than a service delivery crisis; they signal long-standing exclusion and embody alternative conceptions of citizenship, dignity, and sovereignty. Between 2009 and 2019, the number of protests in the region rose by 16.5% (Brannen et al., 2020), indicating the expansion of social mobilization across the Arab world. Most countries in the region face varying degrees of drought risk and low rainfall, which intensify disparities in access to safe water for marginalized and low-income populations. Climate projections indicate that the region could experience a temperature increase of up to 4°C by the end of the century, potentially reducing rainfall by up to 40% in some areas and doubling the frequency of drought events (Elgindy & Mabrouk, 2024). Consequently, social disparities in water access are becoming more pronounced, driven by the convergence of climate pressures and structural imbalances in water management and distribution. In many parts of the Arab world, water functions both as a source of conflict and as a resource at risk of depletion, reflecting and reinforcing broader socio-economic inequalities (Khalifa, 2025).

This wave of social mobilization occurs within a regional context characterized by severe environmental crises, social inequalities, and the weakening of state institutions in several countries. The intensification of this crisis extends beyond environmental dimensions, with direct implications for food security, social stability, and national sovereignty. For instance, losses associated with water stress and scarcity are projected to reach approximately 6–12% of the region’s GDP by 2050 (World Bank, 2018). Furthermore, underinvestment in water infrastructure and inequitable distribution exacerbate social and spatial disparities in access to water.

On the frontlines of climate change, the Arab world is often depicted as soon to be “uninhabitable.” We are frequently warned of a “daunting crisis” and “unquantifiable danger” (e.g., Joffé 2016; Kharraza et al. 2012; Gubash 2018). Underlying these discourses of calamity is a series of somber projections. Current ‘business-as-usual’ climate scenarios would expose half of the region’s population to ultra-extreme, recurring heatwaves. In the second half of this century, temperatures of up to 56°C and higher may persist for several weeks at a time (Francis and Fonseca 2024). Under these same business-as-usual scenarios, average temperature increases in the MENA region are expected to reach up to 4°C (Gaub and Lienard 2021). But it is not just a hotter future – and indeed, present – that afflicts the region. Exposure to extreme and chronic water stress, high degrees of urbanization and rapid population growth, and unprecedented flash floods make for a complex and interconnected climate vulnerability matrix. Ongoing desertification threatens nearly a fifth of the region’s total land area (Abahussain et al. 2002; AHDR 2009). The region has also observed noticeable declines in biodiversity, and shifting climate extremes are contributing to vector-borne illnesses that burden public health systems.