WYN broadly defines Water Governance to constitute the political, social, economic, technical and administrative processes that influence the way in which water is distributed and managed. Underpinning these processes are the principles of transparency, integrity, accountability and equitable access to water and sanitation. This is also why WYN supports the implementation of the Human Right to Water and Sanitation, that was accepted by the UN in 2010.
Aim and projects
The Water Governance aims to be the focal point on issues that relate to Water Governance and Youth both within and outside of the Water Youth Network. This translates into 2 overarching topics:
Young people and the Sustainable Development Goals
Youth is recognised as an extremely well-placed actor to make a difference by adopting innovations and raising awareness, and are an important actor to invest in as they are the next generation of decision makers and implementers. Therefore, young people are an extremely important actor in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals over the course of the next 15 years.
The Water Youth Network is well placed to support the implementation of the SDGs by developing the capacity of young people in the water sector worldwide, sharing best practices of implementing the SDGs, and facilitating the development of consortia of youth organisations both at the international and local level. We have strengthened, and are strengthening the relations between youth actors at the UN level, such as the Major Group of Children and Youth, for which the WYN has the role of providing input on water and the Young Leaders on SDGs, as well as to youth organisations at the national and local level, with the support of the aforementioned YouKnoW platform.
We want to build on these strong and large networks, and the YouKnoW! platform to support young people to contribute to the implementation of the SDGs related to water and improve the acknowledgement of the contribution of young people.
Find more information about the SDGs below:
- Knowledge hub on SDG goal 6Goal 6 – Clean Water & Sanitation, with articles, policy briefs, updates and information about relevant events.
- UN website providing an overview of the Goals, background information and the targets set for each goal.
- UN Water website with information about monitoring of progress and sharing of information to the UN.
- World Bank “Atlas of Sustainable Development Goals 2017″ uses maps, charts and analysis to illustrate, trends, challenges and measurement issues related to each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Role of young people in water cooperation & water diplomacy
young people are an important force to support the implementation of the SDGs. Already the size of the group is convincing: More than 40% of the people on this planet are younger than 25, and more than 55% is younger than 35. Investing in this group of young people, that can contribute now to the implementation of the SDGs, and who will be responsible for taking the next steps after the finalisation of agenda 2030, is a smart thing to do. However, how to include, support, facilitate and enable this participation is not a clear-cut case. Especially linked to SDG 6.5, focusing on transboundary water cooperation, which is often seen as ‘the thing diplomats do’. Through identifying and assessing cases where young people contribute to transboundary water cooperation, we deduct how young people can effectively contribute to water transboundary water cooperation, and distill practical ways for institutions and governments to facilitate and enable these contributions.
The Water Governance team focuses on SDG 6 and cooperation and conflict over water. You are welcome to join the team to work on these topic.
Please contact Simon (coordinator) and/or Rozemarijn (co-coordinator), if you like to join. Also feel welcome if you have ideas for actions outside of SDG6 or water cooperation, and don’t hesitate to share them with us!
Simon holds a B.Sc. in Environmental Geography from UCL (2010) and an M.A. in International Environmental Law & Sustainable Development from the School of Oriental and African Studies (2012).
His Master’s thesis provided a critical analysis of the UN International Law Commission’s Draft Articles on Transboundary Aquifers. In parallel with his Master’s degree, Simon worked as Head Freshwater Resources Researcher for The Environmental Justice Foundation; a Legal Researcher for ClientEarth; a Freelance Environmental Consultant; and is a permanent Member of the International Secretariat of WaterLex. Simon has been involved in the launch of the think tank WaterLex’s legal database on the realization of the human right to water at the 6th World Water Forum (2012) with current UN Special Rapporteur of the Human Right to Water.
Simon has recently worked at the Danish Embassy in Uganda, where he functioned as Secretariat to the Danish Chairmanship of the Water Development Partner Group and advised on the drafting of the Danish International Development Agency’s (Danida) Programme Document for continued Danish support to the Ugandan Water Sector (2013-2018) getting approval of a budget grant of USD65 million.
Simon has also held a seat at the Stockholm International Water Institute’s (SIWI) Young Scientific Programme Committee for the 2013 World Water Week.
His LinkedIn profile can be found here and his email address is email@example.com
Rozemarijn ter Horst
Rozemarijn specialises in the relation between international governance and local situations. Her focus is on situations of conflicting interests on water, capacity development and knowledge exchange.
She now works in Delft, focusing on water cooperation and diplomacy. Before that, she worked for five years as freelance consultant on water governance, conflict and project management. This provided her with the opportunity to contribute to several international projects ranging from facilitating stakeholder involvement in the National Capital Integrity Coastal Development project in Jakarta, to providing training on Stakeholder participation, Conflict Management and Cooperation in the Water Sector.
Being a freelance consultant also allowed her to spend ample time on the Water Youth Network, in which she has been involved since the start as a co-founder of the organisation.
Her LinkedIn profile can be found here and her email address is firstname.lastname@example.org