H2O4ALL was represented by a team including cofounders Tim Muttoo and Odile Bartlett and Chemical Engineering Student Daniel Semenyuk at the World Water Congress. During the conference, they were invited by the International Water Association to contribute to the testing of the Youth-Focused Accountability Framework. The framework was developed by the Grundfos Youth Action for Sustainable Development Goal Fellows, a partnership between the IWA and Grundfos, H2O4ALL’s pump supplier for the past 16 years. Their goal was to encourage organizations like H2O4ALL to increase youth involvement in safe water initiatives. 

This project is part of an initiative created in 2022 by IWA and Grundfos to empower young water professionals (YWPs) and connect them to decision-making processes in the water sector.

The call for more accountability in youth involvement has been increasingly prominent in the water sector over the last few years. In March 2023, we had the honour of attending the World Water Conference at the UN Headquarters in New York City. As young activists around the world made their voices heard from session to session, there were two common themes. 

First, that young people from water-stressed areas have a unique perspective on water access and the drive to make positive change, but they lacked opportunities – to get the education they need to become leaders, to make connections, to be included in decision-making processes. Second, when it came to empowering people from water-stressed communities, the water sector needed less talk and more action.

 Since that conference, the UN’s new Water Action Agenda aims to accelerate change by creating more opportunities for young people. However, while the Water Action Agenda encourages organizations to involve young people, many young people are still concerned about how this goal will be translated to action. The Youth-Based Accountability Framework is a response to the Water Action Agenda, calling for more ways to monitor and support organizations as they work to empower youth. 

H2O4ALL was chosen to contribute to the framework based on our commitment to Synergy for Water now, after the World Water Conference. During the meeting, we had the chance to contribute our feedback about creating opportunities for young people based on sixteen years in promoting safe water access, as well as the opportunity to learn strategies for supporting young voices in our client communities in the future. Thank you to Grundfos and the IWA for inviting us to help shape our water future!