MENA FOCUS - Mediterranean Youth Unites Around Water

Rationale

The MENA Focus is the Water Week’s Regional Days dedicated to the Middle East and North Africa that were introduced in 2016 and coordinated ever since by GWP-Med. Being part of the MENA Focus, the showcase will discuss the context, objectives and activities of the joint initiative of the Center for Mediterranean Integration (CMI) and the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) on Youth and Water, including the possibility of mobilizing CMI’s Mediterranean Youth for Water Network (MedYWat) for the creation of a wider flagship youth Network for the Mediterranean and MENA.

Context

Young women and men in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are calling for meaningful and better civic, economic, social, and political participation. Supporting a systematic approach for youth engagement across the development spectrum is crucial for both meeting their demands and achieving the Agenda 2030, especially regarding water.  

Instead of designing specific youth policies, the focus should be on enabling a conducive and inclusive environment for youth organizations to function effectively within the water governance framework.

Through enhanced understanding and awareness of innovation, education, job creation, and networking opportunities, this joint effort aims to empower youth in the policy-making processes at national and regional levels, contribute towards having young people as a priority.

About the World Water Week

The Stockholm World Water Week is the annual focal point for global water issues, organized by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) and takes place between the 25th and 30th of august each year.

This year's theme is "Water for society - Including all".

About 3,500-4,000 water, sustainability and development professionals from all over the world converged on this year’s event - for more than 200 sessions of different formats and range of subjects.

Objectives

Besides briefly sharing information on ongoing work, the event also included three-panel exchanges targeting current and emerging issues, namely: the water-employment-migration; water and climate change; and water entrepreneurship. The session was concluded with Q&As on plausible next steps.

Specific Objectives of the showcase are to:

• To highlight the joint endeavor of CMI and UfM on Mediterranean Youth and Water and familiarize the participants with its rationale, context, and objectives.

• To exchange experiences and lessons learned from ongoing work of youth organizations and other organizations working on youth in the region, identifying at the same time synergies and potential areas of collaboration.

• Different stakeholders, including regional organizations and development partners and financiers, identified their respective role and added value in the process.