The Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre, an entity established by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign in 2008, has recently released a report on the complex sources of political, economic and social instability in Yemen, and the international dimensions of that instability. The report also touches on the water and climate change dimensions of the country’s security profile. Here are the relevant passages:

With its strategic location, various zones of internal armed conflict, an Islamist terrorist threat, ongoing humanitarian crises, scarcity of key resources such as water, and the world’s worst gender imbalance, the country remains a source of acute international concern…

In some important cities, such as Tai’z, running water is already available only a few hours every other week. Several factors have contributed to this situation. The World Bank lists three: “climate change-induced alterations of rainfalls which are starting to exacerbate the country’s aridity; extension and intensification of agriculture; and fast growth of urban centres.” However, Yemen’s water problems, like its economic troubles, also derive from state’s failure to regulate illegal drilling.

Click here for the full report.