On the 12th and 13th January 2017, the Water Youth Network participated in the 8th meeting of the OECD Water Governance Initiative in Rabat (Morocco).

The OECD Water Governance Initiative (Link) is an international multi-stakeholder network of 100+ delegates from public, private and not-for-profit sectors gathering twice a year in a Policy Forum to share experience on reforms, projects, lessons and good practices in support of better governance in the water sector.

After drafting and advising on the adoption of the 12 OECD Water Governance Principles (Link) and their incorporation in the new OECD Recommendation on Water (Link), the Initiative is now working on indicators to assess the implementation of the principles, and on a database grouping together some of the best practices implemented in term of good water governance. The discussions were fruitful and all participants had the opportunity to comment and discuss the two subjects. Thanks to the OECD Secretariat, the WGI Steering Committee’s organisations, and all stakeholders able to contribute during both plenary sessions and Working groups, the projects are moving forward, and fastly turning into shapes.]

We were two representatives of the Water Youth Network: Maelis Monnier and Alix Lerebours. We emphasized on the need for collaboration, capacity building, inclusion and communication. We enjoyed the opportunity to get updates about the Water Governance sector and the Global Agenda, to learn more about Morocco’s water framework and reforms, and to network with the other participants. The 8th meeting of the Initiative was, once more, a learning experience for the Water Youth Network and an occasion to participate and share our input to the policy and decision-making processes.

We look forward to the 9th meeting in July!