By: AMUN Staff – Teresa Woodard and Daniel Gray

American Model United Nations (AMUN) welcomed Paula Guastello, M.S. as the keynote speaker for the 2025 conference and took the time to host a meet and greet with the AMUN International Press Delegation. Ms. Guastello recently presented the report Drought Hotspots Around the World 2023–2025 at the Third International Conference on Climate and Development in Semi-Arid Regions in Fortaleza – Ceará, Brazil. As the lead author, Ms. Guastello’s research showed there is no substitute for water, noting that desalination and ground-water drilling is unsustainable in the long term. 

Drought or insufficient precipitation to support ecosystems and normal human activities disparately impact on vulnerable populations such as women and indigenous populations. Ms. Guastello stressed how statistics do not fully reveal the impacts. Personal stories such as how water scarcity in Africa results in an increase in HIV cases, violence against women and transactional sex bring a sharper picture of the dire situation drought and desertification brings to everyday lives of those affected. Villages in the Amazon basin that rely on rivers for their only transportation have been completely cut due to drought shows the impact in a way numbers never can.

Ms. Guastello emphasized droughts are a natural phenomenon, but the effects are intensified by climate change and increased demand for water. Drought-caused migrations through areas of regional conflict adds to what is often an already dangerous journey. 

Solutions may be unique to each area, but Ms. Guastello urged building resilience to droughts by investing “in water-efficient infrastructure, ecosystems [restoration] and reform policies related to water use and human rights.” Concluding with a positive note, Ms. Guastello noted we are “inheriting a world facing multiple, overlapping crises, including escalating climate change, but you also bring the fresh ideas and energy we need to meet the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. Conferences like this help you build the skills and perspectives needed to tackle these challenges head-on.”