Why do we need to talk about water? 2026 is a global watershed moment

Today, three decades after World Water Day was instated, two billion people wake up without access to safely managed drinking water every day.

The United Nations has declared that humanity has entered an “era of global water bankruptcy,” and the numbers back it up. Two thirds of the world experiences severe water shortages each year, and nine out of every 10 climate disasters are water related. Droughts collapse food systems. Floods wipe out homes and infrastructure. Rising seas contaminate farmland and drinking water with salt.

We are pumping water from underground reservoirs faster than nature can refill them. Wells run dry and everything built around that water - farms, markets and communities- begins to unravel. Decades of development, undone. Ecosystems are degrading faster than they are recovering and formerly reliable water sources can no longer be counted on.

The climate crisis is, at its core, a water crisis.

This is not simply a leak we can patch. It is a system breaking down, and fixing it demands coordinated thinking, accountable action, and joined-up investment that flows to where it is needed most.

This crisis devastates lives and livelihoods. Those who have done the least to create it are hit hardest. Agriculture is responsible for 70% of global freshwater withdrawals. It is the backbone of livelihoods in many low-income countries with 80–90% of livelihoods in East, Central and the Horn of Africa at the mercy of a rapidly changing climate.

Without access to sufficient clean water, life is in peril. When water is scarce, women and girls bear the brunt, walking longer distances, facing greater risk of violence, and losing hours they could spend in school or earning a living. When water is dirty, deadly diseases spread. When water is limited, it can be weaponised in conflicts like those in Sudan or Gaza and become a tool of cruel oppression. When water fails, entire economies follow. Globally, water insecurity drains productivity, undermining jobs and destabilising supply chains.

The consequences are clear: water insecurity deepens inequality and drives displacement, hunger, disease and conflict. It is at the core of the fight for survival, dignity and justice in almost every humanitarian crisis today.

Oxfam’s response centers on the people caught at the intersection of climate change, conflict and crisis. For the 2.1–2.2 billion people still without safely managed drinking water, and the 3.4–3.5 billion without sanitation, each new shock compounds what is an already fragile reality. Together with our local partners we reach communities in the most complex contexts and scale rapid humanitarian operations in response to critical emergencies.

At the same time, we are working to transform the underlying systems perpetuating inequality and crisis. Shifting power to the communities we work for, Oxfam protects lives, and helps people at risk to plan for, withstand, and recover from emergencies. Our approach combines water engineering and community engagement to support resilience in disaster prone areas and fragile contexts and enhances local and national capacities to improve water access for the most vulnerable.

• In Somalia, we are using desalination technology to deliver clean water to communities facing both drought and flooding.
• In Kenya, we are financing innovative water systems in remote rural areas.
• In Yemen, we are partnering with government to design sewage infrastructure that protects both people and the sea.

These are not isolated projects - they are part of a determined, long-term effort and collaboration to build community driven solutions and water security where it is needed most.

Yet the scale of the challenge demands far greater and more coordinated support from the international community. Needs are growing, funding is falling, and climate finance has yet to reach those at the forefront of this crisis. Countries affected by both climate change and conflict receive on average only one third of the climate finance per capita collected by others. The most fragile countries receive only about one fifth of what more stable states receive. The global system is failing the most affected communities and the very places where investing in resilience is most urgent and most needed.

The case for investing in water security is not only moral, but also geopolitically strategic and economic. A world without water is prone to conflict and increasing instability. Every euro directed towards anticipatory action, early warning and resilient water governance prevents far greater costs - human, ecological and financial- further down the line.

2026 is shaping up to be a true watershed moment for the world - a defining opportunity to confront the global water crisis head on.

With the World Bank's Mission Water and this year's UN World Water Conference, we have powerful platforms for renewed international commitment. But words alone are not enough, and resources must reach the places the global system has chronically underfunded.

Through bold, joined-up action - driven by the communities it serves, not imposed upon them - the basic right to sufficient and clean water does not need to remain out of reach for billions of people. Alongside our partners and the people most affected, Oxfam continues to fight for this right to be upheld, driving the momentum for a fairer, safer, more water secure world.