For a strong committment of civil society and youth at
the Stockholm World Water Week

From left to right: Hannane Sellali (ISW), Lindsey Adalco-Manning (WYPW),
Sarah Dousse (ISW) and Biljana Rimcheska (YWCCEE)

We co-convened these sessions:

• Youth for Water and Climate Day!
  Wednesday, August 29^th | All day | Room: Young Professionals booth – MV1

Organized in collaboration with the Global Water Partnership

All day, this event presented the Youth for water and climate (YWC) platform and its wonderful projects. Young water leader’s from around the world had the chance to showcase their local initiative to experts. Quality assurance labs were organized – rare occasions for young professionals to gather constructive advice and comments from seasoned reviewers in order to improve and scale up their projects.

Among the experts mobilized, made up of youth and senior representatives, we were able to enjoy the presence of:

• Pierre Kistler – in charge of the Global Water programme at the Suiss Department of Development and Cooperation (DDC)
• Dr. Letitia Obeng – Old GWP president and independant consultant
• Amadou Hama Maiga – President of GWP- West Africa
• Manuel Fulchiron –  National Forest Office Director; also a member of our board of directors
• Lindsey Aldaco-Manner – president of the World Youth Parliament for Water (WYPW)
• Konstantina Toli – Senior program officer at the Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med)
• Kholoud Al-Ajarma – Water Heroes 2018 contest winner

An award ceremony was held for the winner, Elizabeth Ntukai,
an inspiring Young Water Fellow from a Masai tribe. We congratulate her!

Youth for Water and Climate special event

The day ended with a special event full of exciting news! Ross Hamilton, interim Chair of Global Water Partnership, did the honor to open this event. Antonella Vagliente, Young Water Solutions’s Director, then summarized the day. After that, Pierre Kristler, from the Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency (SDC), had the pleasure to announce a call for proposals that will be detailed soon on www.youthwaterclimate.org . We will keep you posted!

Our executive director, Sarah Dousse, gave final remarks, thanking our partners and highlighting the success of the initiative. Once again, thank you to our partners for making this a success!

 

• Intergenerational dialogue on water and peace
  

  Thursday, August 30^th | 16.00-17.00 | Room: Swiss Water Partnership Booth

Organized in collaboration with the Geneva Water Hub

Young water leaders and experts shared their experiences, good practices and knowledge on water and peace. They explored common answers and solutions to global, regional and local water challenges.

The opening remarks were made by François Münger, Director, Director of the Geneva Water Hub and Sarah Dousse. The discussions were facilitated by Ms. Natasha Carmi from the Geneva Water Hub.

Youth involved for water and peace had the opportunity to converse with Jean Lapegue, from Action against Hunger, Claudia Sadoff from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Anders Jagerskog from the World Bank, and Mohammed Fawzi Bedredine from the OMVS. We thank them all warmly for the very rich exchanges that took place.

It is through sustained dialogue between generations that solutions to the challenges of our world can be identified and implemented. Youth must have a voice in the current chapter: it is a vector of peace, knowing no barriers in terms of cooperation. The session was closed by Lindsey Aldaco-Manner, President of the World Youth Parliament for Water, who presented the Youth for Water and Peace platform: a place of exchange and creativity for Water and Peace hosted on the Geneva Water Hub website.

We also gave a voice to civil society and youth
during the following events:

• Youth4BluePeace
  Monday, August 27^th | 17.00-18.00 | Lieu: Swiss Water Partnership booth (#6)

The Swiss department of cooperation (SDC) organized a reception in collaboration with Swiss Water Partnership and the Embassy of Switzerland in Sweden. This year, it was dedicated to the themes of Water, Peace and Youth – Youth4BluePeace.  The World Youth Parliament for Water participated actively to this event, highlighting it’s member’s involvement for Water and Peace in watersheds all over the world.

• Connecting Water, Security and Peace through Ecosystems
  Wednesday, August 29^th | 14:00 – 15:30 | Room: FH Little Theatre

This session examined the links between peace and development through good governance of natural ressources. Case studies from Africa and Asia illustrated how ecosystem changes affect political stability. The session also discussed what types of nature-based solutions are needed to ensure peace. Our executive director, Sarah Dousse, acted as rapporteur for the round table dedicated to local governance.

On the right hand side, Lindsey Aldaco-Manner, President of
the World Youth Parliament for Water was one of the panelists

 

• Resilient Policies: Achieving SDG and UNFCCC Goals Through Water Management
  Thursday, August 30th | 14:00 – 15:30 | Room: NL Music Hall (456)

Utilizing the Pacific tradition of Talanoa, the official format of the UNFCCC’s 2018 facilitative dialogue, our session featured stories and conversation among practitioners working to demonstrate that resilient water management can be a powerful organizing principle to reconcile these policies at global, national and local levels. The president of the World Youth Parliament for Water presented the position and commitment of youth in the fight against climate change.

Photos