WYPW in Gyeongju, South Korea, for its 3rd General Assembly
Held between over two weeks, from the 5 to 17 of April 2015, the World Youth Parliament for Water held its 3rd General Assembly, aiming to devevelop a new action strategy for the three years and elect new board members.
Taking place during the 7th World Water Forum, the WYPW members had the opportunity to participate in several workshops, establish clear and concrete steps in project proposals, and present and promote their work to high level stakeholders.
On the first week, several workshops were held, focusing on two main themes : imagining an ideal future and how to develp concrete actions for today.
WYWP's members called on their imagining capabilities in the first two workshops that aimed to envision what the world will look like in 15 and 50 yeas, and what their ideal vision of it would be. A statement was then drafted by the participants at the end of the workhops, based on the basis of the discussions and debate.
The members then dedicated the rest of the week to discussions on the implementation of concrete projects and actions to be held over the next three years. All 16 projects were presented to an expert committee in order to identify obstacles and challenges. They were then collected as advice sheets for the participants.
As a network, the WYPW aims to connect youth and maintain that connection for the years to come. With that it mind, the participants had the opportunity to take part in multiple team-bonding and cultural exploration activities, such as a cultural party - bringing together 55 countries, a day-trip in the host country of South Korea, with a presentation prepared by their Korean peers, and the cleaning of a river bank along the Namcheun River in Gyongju, that was organised in collaboration with local volunteers of Green Gyeongju 21.
WYPW's members then voted to elect its new board, electing Asma Bachikh, as President, Susanne Reitsma as Vice-President and Antonella Vagliente as Global Vice-President. Five continental representatives were also elected as regional focal points.
As the 7th World Water Forum began, the WYPW members were ready to meet and create contact with several key partners, with which they could promote their newly drafted action plan. Several members had the orpportunity to present their work, and assit to events ranging from transboundary water management to the involvement of youth in decision-making processes for water policy.
The WYPW 3rd General Assembly came to an end on April 16th witht the closing ceremony. Its members presented the results of the work done in the past three years and present its new board members. They also officially presented and adopted the statement drafted in the previous week, and the actions gathered in the WYPW toolbox.
