Who we are?
UN1FY consists of one acronym for two initiatives. One is the UN1FY Movement — the United International Federation of Youth for water and climate. The other is the UN1FY Festival — the United International Festival of Youth for water and climate.
UN1FY is a multi-sectoral youth task-force aimed at ensuring meaningful youth participation in high-level water and climate policy negotiations. It is the official youth constituency of the Water and Climate Coalition (WCC), hosted by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
UN1FY’s activities aim at empowering youth through water and climate education, capacity development, active engagement, global mobility, governance, and resource mobilisation.
One of UN1FY’s key outputs is the water and climate Youth Development Plan and Agenda (YDPA) derived from consolidated inputs of global youth on water and climate matters. The YDPA is expected to represent a unified global youth stance during the UN 2023 Water Conference.
Youth Development Plan and Agenda (YDPA)
The Water and Climate Youth Development Plan and Agenda (YDPA) serves as a water and climate blueprint.
The YDPA proposes an action plan to enhance meaningful youth engagement in the water and climate sector globally.
The YDPA identifies the direct and indirect gaps and challenges faced by young people in the water sector, while outlining the key Policies, Projects, Programs, and Activities (PPPAs) reflecting an increased attention on water and sanitation issues in the development agenda.
The YDPA evaluates the values and perception of youth towards the water and climate issues and reviews the youth priorities regarding water and sanitation at global and regional level.
The YDPA’s survey items align to five key problem dimensions including:
Awareness and Capacity
Governance, Policy, and Management
Climate Change in the Water Sector
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH)
Dushanbe Water Process
UN1FY held a pre-forum: the Water and Climate Youth Development Plan and Agenda on the 5th of June 2022, with online and in-person attendees.
UN1FY held a session at the Youth and Children’s Water Forum on the 6th of June 2022, on the importance of youth voice inclusion in developing and implementing the Youth Development Plan and Agenda (YDPA) for the UN 2023 Water Conference and beyond.
The final declaration, from “Dushanbe 2022 to New York 2023” encouraged the participation of young people with interest in the development of the Youth Development Plan and Agenda to the UN 2023 Water Conference.
The High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF)
At HLPF from July 11th to 15th, 2022, UN1FY attended various voluntary national reviews of member states in which Jan Kairel Guillermo, WMO Youth Engagement officer, did an intervention to the conference attendees within the Water and Climate Adaptation session hosted by the Dutch government and presented UN1FY initiatives at a youth session hosted by the Baha’i International Community.
RCOY-APAC
UN1FY organised the Regional Conference of Youth – Asia and the Pacific (RCOY-APAC) hosted by the cities of Ormoc and Baybay in the Philippines from 9th to 13th of August 2022 as the precursor to the two international events, the COY17 in Egypt and the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York.
RCOY Output included the “Declaration of the Orient”, which will also feed into the COP27 Global Youth Statement compiled by our sister constituency YOUNGO. Additionally, conference sessions provided a platform for participants to meaningfully engage in the validation of the Water and Climate Youth Development Plan and Agenda (YDPA). Furthermore, carbon-offsetting activities were conducted by planting mangroves and trees in specified sites to monitor and evaluate the sustainability of the projects.
One Young World Summit 2022
The UN1FY team was present at the One Young World Summit on the 6th of September in Manchester.
They delivered another validation workshop for the Water and Climate YDPA to the conference delegates. This workshop focused mainly on the intersection between water and health. It provided delegates with hands-on experience to familiarise themselves with multiple regions’ water and climate issues, focusing on WASH and health equity.
UNGA 77
At the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, from September 19th to 23rd, 2022, Keziah Gerosano, UN1FY Partnerships Lead, represented the organisation at the SDG Lounge ‘Partnerships for the Goals’ panel and bilateral meetings with COP26 President Alok Sharma. She also represented UN1FY in the consultation with UAE Minister of State for Youth, Her Excellency Shamma Al Mazrui and with the UN Youth Envoy Jayathma Wickramanayake in preparation for COP27, COP28, and the UN 2023 Water Conference.
UNPGA
During the UN 2023 Water Conference stakeholder consultation hosted by the UNPGA, UN1FY representative Keziah Gerosano, urged UN Agencies to: “Allocate at least 15% of the annual budget specific for Water and Climate-related Projects, Programs and Activities (PPAs)”.
She called for the acceptance of youth as allies to drive change: “Will you listen to us, will you support us? … Will you open your doors and accept us? Allow us to be your partners for change.
→As we build momentum toward the UN 2023 Water Conference, UN1FY will keep advocating for youth as an important player at the table of negotiations to find solutions to water and climate issues.
The term ‘UN1FY’ stands for the United International Federation of Youth for Water and Climate.
UN1FY is the Water and Climate Coalition’s (WCC) official youth constituency, where young people are empowered and provided the opportunity to explore and design fundamental ideas for organizing bottom-up change.
