Description
In 2012, she was introduced online to the opportunity to join the World Youth Parliament for Water, which joined not out of passion but necessity. Due to the lack of access to water in her home country, Cameroon, she was in search of answers and solution to a real problem – ” There’s no water”. Michèle initially completed her Master’s in International Relations, hoping to find work in that field. But her time in the WYPW led her in a very different path that she had previously imagined, but one that successfully brought together her interests in IR and her desire to provide solutions for the water problems in her country.
The World Youth Parliament for Water opened her to the field of water studies, which at the time she didn’t know even existed. This empowered to pursue her way along that path, discovering the existing international initiatives of water, and new perspectives from her collegues at the Parliament. It has also provided her with a network of likeminded youth, especially in Africa where they stayed in contact and always make sure to connect with each other in case of a project or an event.
Her commitment to water following her time in the WYPW has materialized through her initiative ‘Water and Climate Network of Central African Youth Organisations (RECOJAC)’ where she aims to create partnerships between youth African organisations in order to unify their message and actions. In only two years, she has bolstered the involvement of youth in the decision-making processes, where youth is systematically invited to several meetings regarding water issues.
‘The WYPW gave me the passion and engagement that I wanted to convey’ – one of her objective with RACOJAC is to pass on that passion to the next generation of youth water leaders in Africa. She believes that there’s a lot of work to be done, as water access is still an issue and the involvement of youth in decision-making processes has a long way to go.
Michèle now works at the Global Water Partnership Central Africa, where she occupies the role of youth project manager. She aims to connect with the youth of the region and facilitate their participation to key events, as she believes their participating will lead to greater involvement on water issues. She has also been working on adapting policy documents to the particular context of Central Africa, which allows her to combine her academic passion with her water mission.
