WG for the World Water Forum 6.

Today, I received an email inviting me to contribute in the debate of the working group of the thematic priority on Water & Food Security. This was due to my small contribution to the Survey on Water & Food Security for the World Water Forum 6. As a result, they invited the International Youth Council (through me) get involved with one of the working groups of the thematic priority on Water & Food Security. See: http://www.icid.org/wwf6/wwf6_metaplan.pdf

When I received the email from someone in the Land & Water Division of the FAO, I honestly didn't believe it was true until after I had googled the person's name.It is a really great opportunity. I emailed the rest of the board of the International Youth Council to ask for their thoughts, feedback and for a vote on whether I should do this (As I would be representing the NGO). The response was immediate (primarily because we had a meeting scheduled for today anyway) and positive. Therefore, I emailed to accept the invitation and to request a phonecall to clarify what the role would actually involve.

My contribution could be on the perspective of youth, and not necessarily on the substantive debate on food and water. As I would not consider myself to be an expert but rather someone who is constantly learning about it. I can also add enormously to the discussions on how to facilitate things, using the consultative processes that I am are familiar with and I can also put other active youth in this area in touch with the WG to increase Youth involvement with the process in general. 

I am totally excited!

Interlinkages & cross-cutting issues (IPM)

It is crazzzzzzzzzzy that we have collectively come together to draft some great statements for the IPM. It is refreshing to engage with the thematic topics and our position paper.

It forces me to remember that one of the defining features of the 21st century is the global demographic divide, with an increasing youthful population. The world has the largest group of adolescents ever and globally, people under the age of 25 are making up nearly half of the total global population, with more than 500 million living in poverty. These stats scare me. I am young. I am not rich. I come from a country where unemployment is on the rise and I am lucky to have a job. But it still scares me when I consider how close it is. I would hate to be one of the 500 million living in poverty and only small things stand between me and poverty. I have lived in New York City on less than 5 dollars a day. I have lived in Africa on less that 1 dollar a day. I was lucky but I never considered myself to be living in poverty. I know that our definition of poverty is fundamentally flawed. And it all comes down to perspective.

Effective and efficient poverty eradication strategies are needed. Ones that do not merely consider monetary aspects as an indicator of wealth. Education is a catalyst of human development, therefore, it is imperative to ensure gender equality and equity, universal primary education with equal access for boys and girls and to promote formal and non-formal education regarding sustainable development. But this alone is not enough. There also needs to be an enabling environment for the creation of appropriate means of implementation and will encourage and support the operationalization and implementation of sustainable development. More efforts should be put into protecting human and environmental health through command-and-control regulatory systems based on monitoring and enforcement actions.

It is a massive task. But it is not unachievable. I can almost hear you scroff and dismiss me for being idealistic. But I am not. I merely know how much potential we have and how much we waste.

Waste Management....IPM

There is a pressing need for more effective and efficient waste management as an integral part to the achievement of sustainable development.  The challenges of waste management are complex and there are no easy solutions. However, we need to truly commit ourselves to this process and all of us have to start working together toward achieving concrete change.

Youth mobilization in advocacy efforts for implementation of sustainable policies is an asset to be utilized. Governments need to adopt and enable implementation of Zero-Waste Plans. A cradle-to-cradle approach must be encouraged, including through redesigning of products, extending the product life, recycling and reusing end products as inputs for other parts of the life cycle. In addition, it is necessary to invest in waste management education and partnership building among all relevant actors.

Furthermore, I consider it imperative that there is a total (and enforced) ban on the dumping of nuclear and ewaste which includes effective treatment of hazardous waste and ban or minimization of its transboundary
movement. In an ideal world, I would love to see the Implementation of the Basel Convention, full implementation of the Bamako Convention, implementation of Waste prevention and minimization policies. I will advocate for this when I go to New York in May.

It is scary to consider the impact of waste. If you think about the children who scavenge in the developing world are exposed to the negative effects of hazardous waste. Poverty and the lack of viable income earning opportunities have trapped these children in a dependency cycle where they are reliant on scavenging. This is a scary reality that we are all responsible for but doing nothing about.

Thematic rant (IPM )

As we stressed in our policy recommendations, it is necessary to eradicate child labour, especially in the mining industry, improve the abilities of small scale artisanal miners, and catalyse the adoption legal instruments to govern extraction and utilisation of mining resources. This is logical, it has been previously agreed upon in conventions such as ILO 182 but implementation. That is our key concern. We want words translated into action but we are realistic enough to know that we are dealing with the UN. But we want political change. 

We must strengthen chemical management, extend government and corporation responsibility for health and environmental damage and provide resources to fully implement existing multilateral chemical agreements. In addition, it should be an imperative to protect human and environmental health. We should aim at adoption of the national zero-waste plans, ban dumping and transboundary movement of all hazardous waste, and improve working conditions for young people in the waste sector. We should also develop, implement, maintain and adapt transport methods, infrastructures and networks for low-carbon mobility. Above all, the welfare of underprivileged children and youth in these sectors must no longer be denied. 

When I think about the UN CSD, I hope for a comprehensive and meaningful framework for sustainable consumption and production. It is time to combine sustainable behavioural patterns and lifestyles with innovative ways of producing in order to translate of the concept of sustainable development into action. 

This could and should lead to a real paradigm shift towards a Green Economy in our societies on the condition that the framework is strong, precise and inspires real and concrete programmes marked by bold actions. A 10 year framework will only achieve it’s true potential if it includes a strong dimension of Rio Principle 21 which mobilises  “the creativity, ideals and courage of the youth of the world in a global partnership”.

We all have the responsibility to provide strong guidance and commitment and to inspire progress to build strong sustainable development policy. But are we ready?