Children of Today are Leaders of Tomorrow
UNICEF commits to fostering collaboration with young people toward sustainable water future
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Dushanbe, 6th June, 2022-"Children of today are the leaders of tomorrow" – with the statement, the 11-year-old eco-activist Aliya Eraj from Tajikistan started her speech during the 'Youth & Children's Water Forum' hosted by UNICEF in Dushanbe with the financial support from the European Union. The 'Youth and Children's Water Forum' is a part of the International Dushanbe Water Conference, Water Action Decade "Water for Sustainable Development, 2018-2028". These second high-level events focusing on the partnership at the local, national, regional and global levels to catalyze action towards achieving the SDG targets on WASH are hosted by the Republic of Tajikistan in cooperation with the UN agencies and other agencies and partners. This particular side event was organized by UNICEF in Tajikistan, with the financial support from the European Union Delegation.
The 'Youth & Children's Water Forum' brought over two hundred of youth representatives and decision-makers from around the globe, including from Tajikistan to discuss and identify priorities on how governments and young people could inclusively collaborate towards the acceleration of achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development water-related goals.
The official ceremony was opened by delivering statements of the Tajik Minister of Education and Sciences, the EU Commissioner on Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, and the Tajik Chairmen Committee on Youth and Sports. The UNICEF Representative in Tajikistan, Mr. Osama Makkawi, then delivered his statement, after which he closed the opening ceremony, thanking the guests for their participation.
"Young people are more open to accepting and testing innovative ideas and technologies that, in turn, can catalyze the achievement of fundamental objectives of water sustainability and resource efficiency. Therefore, if equipped with the skills and opportunities, young people can be the driving force in promoting human rights to water and sanitation for all."
Over the next hours, the youth participants will share their unique experiences and solutions on many aspects of water management, including:
- enhancing inclusive collaboration between youth and decision-makers;
- providing access to technology and innovations;
- investing in youth social and environmental entrepreneurship;
- scaling up and replicating the successful young entrepreneurship examples.
"To prevent water scarcity in the world, I urge my fellows to think about water conservation. We, children, can help our community by offering a helping hand."
When discussing their experiences with mechanisms to inclusively manage water resources, young participants stressed the need for a strong political will of the governments for dialogue and cooperation with the youth leadership. The latter will create practical tools and measures for implementing SDG 6. They highlighted that such tools must be supported by improved capacity development mechanisms for young people to further their technical knowledge of this vital resource. Noting UNICEF's long-standing experience in fostering WASH cooperation, all participants highlighted and expressed their appreciation to the Organization for providing a platform for such multidisciplinary dialogues.
"There is no single country in the world that has not faced issue with the water. And the young people are the most affected. The youth globally and in Tajikistan should not stand aside any issues around water and climate change."
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UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere. UNICEF operates in Tajikistan since 1993.
To receive more information about UNICEF and our work in Tajikistan, please visit https://www.unicef.org/tajikistan/
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