From the Streets to the Decision-Making Seats: How UN1FY Involves Youth in High-Level Water and Climate Decision-Making
Guest blog from UN1FY
by Clémentine Dècle-Classen, Zihan Xuan, and Maria Mercedes Kuri
UN1FY before meeting the Water and Climate Coalition Leaders prior to the Dushanbe Water Process, June 2022. Photo credit: Jian Le Tan.
What is UN1FY?
The United Nations International Federation/Festival of Youth for Water and Climate serves as the Official Youth Constituency of the Water and Climate Coalition of the World Meteorological Organization. UN1FY aims to revolutionise youth engagement in the water and climate movement. It provides young people with an open and inclusive platform to mobilise resources, contribute to the evidence-based research and advocacy activities, while harnessing the youth potential to influence global policymakers and decision-making processes. In other words, UN1FY emerged to bring youth to the decision-making table of high-level international water and climate policy negotiations.
As a measure of its credibility, UN1FY has been endorsed by the Office of the Secretary General's Envoy on Youth and the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization.
Why UN1FY?
With an estimated 75% of young people globally who deem the future frightening because of climate change, combined with a severe lack of representation of youth in formal decision-making processes, the time has come for youth to be considered an essential stakeholder, directly involved in the decisions that will impact our futures, lives, and choices.
UN1FY envisions direct youth participation in high-level water and climate policy negotiations, as the youth constituency of the Water and Climate Coalition. Because 90% of all climate-related disasters are water related, the Coalition’s strategic goal is to promote cross-sectoral water and climate action under the SDG6 Acceleration Framework in an inclusive manner — together with the youth.
How does UN1FY involve young people?
UN1FY is both a Federation and a Festival open to all youth aged from 12 to 35, and youth-related organisations to represent global youth in high-level water and climate negotiations, such as the 27th Conference of Parties and the 2023 UN Water Conference.
Its main output consists of the Water and Climate Youth Development Plan and Agenda (YDPA), derived from consolidated inputs of global youth on water and climate challenges and solutions. Specifically, the YDPA will transform and operationalise youth demands and perceptions into concrete Programmes, Projects, and Activities, which governments, private sector, and civil society can commit to and implement. In this spirit, the YDPA will represent the official global youth voice on water and climate during the 2023 UN Water Conference.
Moreover, from water and climate education and governance to global mobility and capacity development, UN1FY offers a range of exciting opportunities for its members — who are offered multiple levels of commitment with the movement.
From Dushanbe 2022 to New York 2023
In June 2022, UN1FY took part in the Dushanbe Water Process — the Second High-Level Conference on International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development”, 2018-2028. The Dushanbe Final Declaration encouraged the development of UN1FY’s YDPA and emphasised that the voice of young people should play a major role during the 2023 UN Water Conference.
How can you join and contribute?
UN1FY is now open for Membership. You can register and follow our social media updates via https://linktr.ee/un1fy.
You can also bring your voice to the movement by filling out and spreading the YDPA survey around your network https://linktr.ee/YDPAsurvey.
NB: If you sign-up as a Member now and get 10 people to fill out the survey with your reference code, you will enter UN1FY's raffle draw to get a fully funded trip to COP27 (badge not included).
Join UN1FY today, and let our actions flow for tomorrow.