The event provided a stage to showcase how young people are contributing to the implementation of the SDGs at the local, national, regional and global scale. There were many inspiring and noteworthy initiatives from young scientists, researchers, and entrepreneurs!

Youth Forum sessions promoted youth initiatives and engagement and were hosted by the following organizations: Water Youth Network, Road to Brasilia, International Water Association Young Professionals, Global Water Partnership, Stockholm International Water Institute, World Youth Parliament for Water, and the World Water Council.

A large effort was made to include all young people before and during the event. In the spirit of sharing opportunities among young people from across different regions and organizations, the Water Youth Network organized a democratic election to select candidates to participate in the prestigious drafting committee of the Budapest Declaration. Chishala Kapupu and Laila Kasuri  were selected to participate in the drafting committee on behalf of youth. They joined representatives of science, international organisations such as the FAO, and civil society to discuss the outcome paper of the Summit. Please find this general statement here.

The event provided us with the chance to connect with senior professionals and to convince them to include young people in their work. We believe we made a big step. Calls were made by organisations during the closing that they are willing to include young people constructively in their work. They called on young people to dedicate themselves to the water sector, and not ‘lose themselves’ to the big money, as the water sector needs more passionate and knowledgeable people. Chishala Kapupu gave a great speech, of which you can find the text here.

Furthermore, we had the chance to identify what is needed to strengthen the role of young people in the water sector. Together, we produced the Youth Statement. An important challenge will be to showcase the impact of youth projects on the implementation of the SDGs. Challenge accepted!

You can find the Youth Statement of the Budapest Water Summit here.

We could not have done this without our Water Youth Network team! Special thanks go to:

Alix Lerebours, Bianca Benitez,Chidiebere Samuel, Janet Molina Maturano, Johannes, Laura Basco Carrera, Natalija Fisher, Rozemarijn ter Horst, Shristi Vaidya, Veronica Diaz Sosa, and Viviane Virgolim
And to our volunteer rapporteurs:
Bianca Benitez, Janet Molina, Viviane Virgolim, Shristi Vaidya, Chidebere Nnebuoi, Chishala Kapupu, and Loni Reay Adeline

Outcome documents

Find the Youth Statement here: BWS_YouthStatement2016
Find the general statement here: http://www.budapestwatersummit.hu/budapest-water-summit/budapest-statement/budapest-statement-2016-780/
Find the amazing closing statement speech by Chishala Kapupu here: FinalSpeech_YouthStatement_30102016

Faces of Budapest – Read stories of young people from all over the world

Mariana Mata Lara – Mexico
Vicente Burchard-Levine
Dr. Jerome Delli Priscoli (for intergenerational learning)
Loni Relay Adeline
Tatiana Dos Santos Silva
Vilma Chanta
Anja Potokar