Make WASH youth inclusive- Boluwatito Awe

By Racheal Ogundipe

The 2023 UN Water Conference has come and come, but issues raised at the meeting continues to resonate. One of such is the need for more youth inclusion to push  Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene agendas.

‘We need  to include more young people in the debates on water issues and access. The commitments made at this UN conference for instance does not  sufficiently include youth actions,  so as to have people who think differently and push WASH agendas. Water affects young people too and more young water professionals need to be given the opportunity to make decisions in order to accelerate access to water and close the gap.  Young people are the ones out there doing the footwork in communities but they’re left out during important decision-makings’

These are the words of  Ms Boluwatito Awe, President of the Nigerian Youth Parliament for Water,  who was a Lead Discussant  at the “Water for Health: Access to WASH, including the Human Rights to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation” interactive dialogue held at the UN 2023 Conference last month.

Discussing about her participation in the meeting, Boluwatito said in her linkedin page:

“I had the incredible honour of being selected as a lead discussant at the recent United Nations water conference. The opportunity to contribute to such an important global conversation on water, and to share insights and perspectives with other experts and leaders in the field, was truly inspiring!”

Her comments generated several responses:

• Harriete Okal, a Doctoral Researcher, said: “And that’s how you make a statement, ladies and gentlemen. Well done Boluwatito Awe . You rocked!!”
• Fatou M’bow, a Water Advocate and Engineer, said “Well done Boluwatito Awe. Your drive and motivation to advance the water sector within your country, region and from a global perspective, is inspiring us all to take effective action in the coming year towards the Water Action Agenda.”

The highlight of the interactive dialogue was commitments made by Lord Goldsmith, the second co-chair of the event and the UK Climate and Environment Minister pledged UK government’s fresh support to enhance the quality of water supply, sanitation, and hygiene services in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with a £18.5 million in UK funding.

Discussions at the dialogue was summarised by the event moderator, Catherine Russel:

• Government leadership and willingness to drive change are key as they can drive remarkable progress. This can be achieved through collaboration with development partners and stakeholders.
• Funding from the private and public sectors must increase drastically and government must increase public spending on WASH.
• There should be more investment in people and institutions which includes young people and indigenous people
• Development of  a strong WASH sector with a gender-balanced and competent workforce is necessary.
• Government should support the institutionalization of data collection and promote monitoring within national systems
• Government should encourage WASH innovation and experimentation through supportive government policy, regulation and rigorous monitoring