UNESCO and partners discuss developing youth capacity at the 8th Africa Water Week

The 8th Africa Water Week (AWW8) and the 6th Africa Conference on Sanitation and Hygiene (AfriSan6) joined together as the Africa Water and Sanitation Week (AWSW) are institutionalized platforms to discuss and collectively seek solutions to Africa's water and sanitation challenges. The Africa Water Week event is held biennially and the theme for this year was "Water Security for Development and Human Health". The conference was virtually convened by the African Ministers' Council on Water (AMCOW) in conjunction with the African Union Commission and other development partners from 22 to 26 November 2021.

Under the sub-theme "Addressing Water and Sanitation sector enablers and drivers: policy, capacity development, knowledge management, financing among others", UNESCO convened a session on Enhancing the capacity of youth to address water security through knowledge generation during the eighth Africa Water Week on the 24 November 2021.

The objective of the session was to mobilize and encourage young people to use science to address water security as well as raise awareness on UNESCO's upcoming publication on Scientific Writing and the special collection of youth-led researches focused on water security in Africa.

Mr. Samuel Partey, Programme Specialist, UNESCO Nairobi, opened the session on behalf of the UNESCO Regional Director for Eastern Africa, Prof. Hubert Gijzen. He welcomed all the distinguished guests and the participants of the session. In his message, he mentioned the importance of the participation of youth in science and research, and called for the need to have a strategy for meaningful youth engagement in water.

Dr. Thomas Banda, Director of Finance and Administration gave an opening remark on behalf of Dr. Rashid Mbaziira, Executive Secretary-AMCOW urged everyone to support the youth and young people by mentoring them and nurturing their talents while providing them with opportunities to develop their skills.

Dr. Mohamed Diatta, Head of the Executive Secretariat of the 9th World Water Forum talked about the importance of engaging the youth in addressing water security through scientific research.

Prof. Hilary Inyang, President, Global Institute for Sustainable Development started off the technical session by presenting a summary about the participation of the youth in the development of the publication on youth and water security in Africa. In his presentation, he mentioned that young Africans possess the required skills to carry out world-class research. He also noted the high number of female researchers in the publication which indicates that SDG 6 is getting serious attention among the young female.

Through collaboration, it is possible for young authors and female authors to collaborate with people from other countries be they European, American or other countries in Africa to produce high quality journal articles without necessary being subservient to the senior authors.

Prof. Hilary Inyang, President, Global Institute for Sustainable Development

Four young professionals were given an opportunity to present their research papers which covered various issues on water security. The scientific papers prepared by these young professionals were selected following an intensive review process where an initial 119 extended abstracts had been received. The presentation session was moderated by a young professional, Ms. Gontle Thuto Rankgomo, Pan African University Institute of Water and Energy Science. Topics presented by the young panelists included:

• An analysis of the Urban Ecosystem Restoration Programs in Nairobi River Basin: An Ecohydrological Perspective: Ms. Farida Gitonga- MSc. student, Pan African University Institute of Water and Energy Science.
• Flood Risk Estimation of Cross River Watershed (Cameroon)/ GIS Based Morphometric Analysis and Geospatial Techniques: Ghislaine Madjiki-Adjia- Researcher, Hydrological Research Centre Institute of Geological and Mining Research
• Assessing the Impact of Youth Water Education Gap on Water Security in Zaria, North of Nigeria: Adamu Mohamed- Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
• Recorded presentation: Assessment of Citizen's Measurements Using Test Strips for Water Quality Monitoring in Medjerda Watershed (Northern Tunisia)- Dr. Safa Chaabane, University of Jendouba, Tunisia

In her closing remarks Ms. Nicole Webley, Associate Programme Specialist, UNESCO Paris briefly outlined the journey that began with the call for extended abstracts for youth and water security that culminated to the session at the Africa Water Week. In thanking the youth for the recommendations during the current and previous Africa Water Week session, she mentioned: "we noted your recommendations and took the necessary steps to address them. I also want to let you know that we are listening very carefully to the discussions and we will also be paying attention to the recommendations that you have made today".

She also mentioned that the youth will be given an opportunity during the World Water Forum in 2022 to participate at a global level.