In this context, youth, who account for more than 50% of world population, and who see dark clouds looming on their horizon, decided to be proactive and issued a white paper addressing Water and Climate challenges. The priorities in the white paper, identified through consultations undertaken in more than 15 countries, were shared during COP 21 and have been presented in countries on all continents to governments, youth organizations, UN agencies, etc. The whole-hearted backing given to these recommendations, on water and agriculture, water and health, water-related disasters, and sharing water resources, showed once again that giving youth a voice was worth it.

Youth are more committed than ever towards achieving their 2015 ambition and changing things on the ground, in order to contribute to a better future for coming generations. That is why, in 2016, they were reflecting, consulting, and engaging with other stakeholders on how to concretely harness the energy of their aspiration of becoming actors and implementers, moving from “talk" to "walk.”

While youth in various countries have started to act, the feeling is that things are not going to change tangibly unless the involvement of youth can really be up-scaled. Therefore, youth organizations and other partners which have been working with them invite you to support the principle of a global initiative aimed at providing youth from all countries with the support they need to realize their innovative ideas to contribute to the global effort needed to address water and climate-related sustainable development challenges, in particular poverty alleviation and job creation.

To take part in this youth empowerment initiative, you can download your declaration in English, French, Spanish, or Russian on the right.

Please submit your signed declaration to: youth@gwp.org