10th World Water Forum, Indonesia – civil society and youth mobilized

The World Water Forum (WWForum) is organized every 3 years by the World Water Council (WWC) and a host country, as a forum for debate and exchange on the issues of access to water and sanitation for all. It is the main international multi-stakeholder event on this issue.

The next World Water Forum will be held in Bali, Indonesia from May 18 to 24, 2024. The International Secretariat for Water (ISW) has been participating in World Water Forums since its inaugural event in Morocco in 1997. Over the years, the ISW and its partners have succeeded in creating more space for civil society and youth. The participation of civil society and youth became more structured in 2012 at the World Water Forum in Marseille (France), with the launch – at the instigation of the ISW – of the NGO coalition of the Butterfly Effect (BE) and the World Youth Parliament for Water (WYPW), and more recently in Dakar (World Water Forum 2022) of the Global Youth Movement for Water (GYMW).

As the Forum represents an important opportunity for mobilization and influence, the International Secretariat for Water is actively involved in the preparations for the World Water Forum in Bali.

In particular, our team contributed to the second stakeholders’ meeting (October 2023, Bali) and organized a Youth Pre-Forum.

Youth Pre-Forum

The Youth Pre-Forum organized by the ISW on October 10 and 11 in Bali brought together over 50 young people from 10 different countries, with the main aim of arriving at a common vision of tomorrow’s world in terms of water-related issues.

Coming from diverse backgrounds, the young people were able to share their experiences and knowledge and were offered capacity-building sessions on the subject of water and its management, influencing strategies and, more generally, the Forum itself.

This Pre-Forum led participants to identify key messages – based on their advocacy efforts in Dakar (World Water Forum, March 2022) and New-York (United Nations Water Conference, March 2023) – which they were able to convey to the decision-makers present at the stakeholders’ meeting.

Our shared problems are our shared opportunities – Dhia Fani – Indonesia

By knowing that our voices really count, you’ve given me confidence that I can be the change maker I want to be. – Shreya Adhikari – Nepal

Second stakeholder meeting

Bringing together nearly 400 participants, the main aim of this preparatory meeting was to finalize the sessions and messages for the various processes of the next World Water Forum.

Despite a low level of participation from civil society, which was unable to attend due to a lack of resources, the active participation of young people mobilized by the ISW ensured that their voices were heard at the event. The preparations carried out within the framework of the Youth Pre-Forum led to their inclusion in each of the thematic sessions, in the political process and at the opening ceremony.

We’re here to work with you, […] locally, nationally or even internationally and please don’t hesitate to contact us because we believe in you, we believe in intergenerational cooperation, we believe in these processes that are being put in place and we believe in the space that is being provided to us and in pursuing these opportunities to engage together in whatever thematic and regional process takes place today, tomorrow and most likely in May and beyond.

  • Marta Zaragoza (World Youth Parliament for Water, opening ceremony).

A special youth session was organized by the World Water Council and the World Water Forum’s National Committee, at which it was decided that the youth movement would propose a contribution to the Forum’s Ministerial Declaration, that a youth stand would be set up in the official exhibition and that each thematic session would present a youth contribution.

More generally, the participation of the ISW team in the stakeholders’ meeting enabled the integration of messages from civil society (Butterfly Effect) and youth in a large majority of thematic sessions.

Our participation was also an opportunity to support the Indonesian position on water justice and the need to reduce injustices.

Challenges and prospects

ISW and its partners will continue efforts to enable civil society and youth organizations to fully participate in the 10th World Water Forum, which will take place in May 2024. This Forum is also a major opportunity to strengthen civil society and youth networks in the Asia-Pacific region.

This preparatory meeting will have enabled the ISW to affirm its positioning as a catalyst for youth and civil society among organizers and participants, as well as to continue the work developed at previous forums, while strengthening its network of partners.

Would you like to find out more about the Bali World Water Forum?