On the Youth-day of 3rd WWF, March 18th 2003, the Young Water Action Team (YWAT), with some local help of Youth Water Japan, organized and coordinated the 2nd Youth World Water Forum (YWWF) in Kyoto, Japan.
Click here for photographs from the Youth World Water Forum, including the speech of His Royal Highness the Prince of Orange of the Netherlands, our guest panel member Dr. Mahmoud Abu-Zeid and the interactive afternoon session.
After a spectacular opening with the Youth Water Wave and a video, the morning program continued with some interesting presentations of the following youth organizations: Young Water Action Team (YWAT), Youth Water Japan (YWJ), GAP-RDA (Turkey), A Seed Japan & Peace Boat, Center for Built Environment (India), UNSAJ and Impactanation.
Read the report on the 2nd Youth World Water Forum
During the 3rd WWF YWAT and Youth Water Japan came up with the 'Young People's Declaration', based on the views of young people that were collected all over the world through questionnaires and Regional YWAT workshops in China, Mexico and Egypt. The declaration was handed in at the Ministerial Conference on March 22nd and 23rd, in which YWAT was represented by Veronica Azuaje Silva from Venezuela.
Read the YOUNG PEOPLE'S DECLARATION
One of the projects that YWAT also presented in Kyoto, is the Water Proverbs Project. It was carried out as part of 'Water and Culture', one of the main topics of the Third World Water Forum.
Proverbs are an essential part of the oral culture of a society, and are frequently used to define the environment and experiences of a particular society. As water influences all aspects of life, it is a frequent subject of proverbs and water related proverbs can be found in all cultures. YWAT-member Yoseph Araya from Eritrea collected a lot of those and made a poster that was shown in the Stakeholder Center of the Third World Water Forum.
Water Proverbs Poster
Next to that some YWAT-members had the opportunity to go on an excursion in or around Kyoto and to learn more about the Japanese culture. One of our members participated for example in the Kifune Shrine excursion.
Read the report of the Kifune Shrine excursion
One of the unique features of the 3rd World Water Forum in Japan was the Ministerial Dialogue. This session provided an opportunity for Water Ministers and other senior officials to sit down with people who made presentations during the conference, and other people who attended the conference, to discuss water issues. No less than 18 YWAT members participated in this dialogue.
On March 20th, the 5th day of the Third World Water Forum, YWAT organized a special performance on the stage of the Stakeholder Center in the KICH hall. Dressed in traditional clothes from their countries different YWAT members informed the audience about the Regional Workshops that were organized, about YWAT's strategy and about the Youth Declaration that had been drawn up on the 18th.
YWAT performance in the Kyoto International Conference Hall
Report on YWAT activities during 3rd World Water Forum
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