Mobilising Youth for Water Resources Management

We have the largest number of young people the world has ever known and the majority of them live in the Southern hemisphere. ‘Youth are our future’ is a commonly used phrase. But in fact they are also the present. The challenge is to recognise the contributions that youth can and already to make to facilitate the ‘inter-generational exchange that lies at the heart of sustainable development.’

GWP’s Youth Engagement Strategy is GWP’s contribution to this process. The Strategy was launched in 2015 to complement the GWP’s Gender Strategy. Together they continue to support GWP's main Strategy for 2020-2025, Mobilising for a Water Secure World.

Since the launch of the Youth Engagement Strategy, GWP teams around the world has purposefully reached out to and mobilised youth groups and younger individuals to confront water resources management challenges.

And the 2020-2025 Strategy promises to reinvigorate GWP's efforts to include young people in water decisions, offering pathways for youth to become agents of change for improved water resources management and sustainable development.

More specifically, as part of all programmes developed under GWP’s Anchor Areas, GWP's work to mobilise youth will focus on:

  • Supporting youth engagement in water policy processes, including through joint learning and capacity building on youth engagement with youth and partners;
  • Cultivating youth-led initiatives for advancing good water management and governance; and
  • Leveraging water resources management to build employment opportunities and innovative approaches relevant for youth interested in contributing to building a water secure world.