The African Youth Water Forum (AYWF) has issued a resounding call for significantly increased youth participation in water governance and decision-making across the continent, emphasizing the crucial need to move beyond mere consultation and recognize young people as active partners and leaders within the water sector. This sentiment was underscored as the Forum joined young people, organizations, and stakeholders across Africa and beyond to commemorate International Youth Day 2026 under the overarching theme: ‘Different Contexts, Common Aspirations.’
The Forum organized a continental virtual dialogue, ‘Youth Leading Water Governance Across Africa,’ designed to facilitate this crucial shift. This dialogue brought together young people, water professionals, researchers, advocates, students, civil society organizations, and a diverse range of stakeholders from various countries, all focused on exploring the role of youth in shaping Africa’s water future.
The AYWF acknowledged that young people across the continent share common aspirations, including enhanced access to quality education, meaningful participation, equitable opportunities, dignity, sustainable development, and a secure future – despite the diverse social and economic realities they face. According to the Forum, young people must be recognized not only as beneficiaries of development programs but as pivotal leaders, innovators, researchers, and advocates for sustainable development.
The Forum highlighted that young people are already contributing significantly to addressing water challenges through community action, research, innovation, advocacy, entrepreneurship, and knowledge sharing. However, the Forum stressed that greater investment, increased inclusion, and robust institutional support are essential to enable youth-led solutions to grow and influence policy and practice effectively. The dialogue centered on four key areas: youth and water governance, youth leadership and participation, research, innovation and knowledge management, and policy, advocacy and storytelling.
Key speakers included Robert Strand, Founder and Director of the World Water Film Festival in the United States, Gauri Nimbalkar, a representative of the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth in Malawi, Kekesi Defoe, Co-Convener of AYWF and Director of the Foundation for Environmental Watch, Ghana, and Angella Nakkungu, a student leader and World Bank Scholar at IHE Delft Institute for Water Education in the Netherlands. Their contributions underscored the critical link between youth leadership and research, innovation, advocacy, storytelling, and governance to tackle Africa’s water challenges. The Forum formally introduced the new AYWF Coordinating Council, a group of young leaders and professionals selected to support the Forum’s continental activities and network. This Council’s core work will encompass water governance, research and innovation, policy and advocacy, communication and media, partnerships and resource mobilization, programmes, monitoring and evaluation, and regional coordination.
The formation of the Council is a significant milestone in the Forum’s development, marking a commitment to strengthening youth leadership and participation in Africa’s water sector. The Forum subsequently urged governments, development partners, civil society organizations, academia, the private sector, and water institutions to create more meaningful opportunities for young people to participate in decision-making. It explicitly called upon these stakeholders to foster collaborative initiatives where young people can continue to contribute to change and develop innovative solutions to Africa’s water challenges, recognizing the vital role of this generation in securing a water-secure future for all.
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Source: Adom Online
