ORSAM Report No 116 ORSAM Water Research Programme Report No 14The Concept of Benefit-Sharing, Its Theoretical Background and Practical Reflections
Executive Summary
Water as a basic human necessity, is a critical resource for all aspects of human existence, en-
vironmental survival, economic development, and good quality of life. Water has become more
and more crucial and strategic natural resource in the Middle East and South Africa. Increase
in world population, scarce character of water reinforces its critical situation. Within this con-
text, current water-related problems, which can be defned as water allocation, water mana-
gement and sharing the benefts derived from water resources, seem inevitable to cause some
disagreements and conficts between riparians. With the re-thinking of security conceptualiza-
tions after the end of the Cold War, they have brought new priorities such as human security,
environmental security besides national security. With this re-conceptualization it has begun
to be argued that water is a basis of cooperation as well as its being potential basis of confict.
After that, water started to be evaluated as not only political tool but also an economic good.
After evaluating water as an economic tool, changes in perceptions on water paved the way of
the concept of beneft sharing to come to the agenda. In this study, the main assumptions and
solution suggestions of this concept on water issues will be elaborated and practical refections
of the beneft sharing concept will be emphasised.
