The Water ChangeMaker Awards are a new initiative that seeks to highlight experiences in the way water decisions have built climate resilience. The initiative was launched on World Water Day 2020, March 22.

In the lead-up to International Women’s Day 2020 (8 March), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency Sida has kicked off what they refer to as a super-year for gender equality. This was announced at a seminar on 5 March at the Sida headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, under the theme “Generation Equality: Adolescents, Gender Equality and SRHR”.

Michèle Okala coordinates the work of RECOJAC – the Network of Water and Climate Organisations of Central African Youth. She is one of the founding members and she is also in charge of youth issues for GWP Central Africa. Michèle has been volunteering for over 8 years, and she shares some insights to what she has learned – and what she hopes to leave as her legacy: “I created RECOJAC for the generation that will come after me. I am only laying the foundation.”

“Connection leads to protection because when you feel connected to something, you feel a responsibility to care for and protect it,” says Stephanie Woodworth as she reflects on her experiences over the past few years – from winning the 2016-2017 edition of the Great Waters Challenge, to working on a number of water-related youth projects and finding her motivation to reach her goal of connecting people to water, especially the younger generation.

Young water leaders from Central and Eastern Europe attended COP25 in Madrid as part of the GWP youth delegation to continue the efforts of GWP to engage and empower youth in water and climate governance.

For our third and final youth voice on water for 2019 we go to the warm Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago to meet Khadija Stewart, who shares her water journey and how social media and communication has guided her to where she is today: “A simple Facebook post changed my life”, she says. The story is part of a collaboration between World Youth Parliament for Water (WYPW) and GWP to make sure the voices of youth are heard.

In Autumn 2019, GWP CEE and emerging young water leaders organized 8 National Dialogues between youth and decision-makers in 8 Central and Eastern European countries.

Meet Kareem Hassan, an international innovation expert, sustainability entrepreneur, Director of Youth and Innovation at the Global Institute for Water, Environment, and Health (GIWEH), and Managing Director of BENAA Foundation, which aims to build the capacities of youth in order to build up sustainable WASH projects in Egypt.