What Young People Said About Water
As part of the process of developing the Youth Manifesto on Water Sovereignty, we conducted a survey to understand the water challenges young people and their communities face and what they would like the manifesto to address.
The survey gives us an initial picture of the issues that respondents consider important. It will also inform the next stages of consultation and validation.
What are the main water challenges?
Respondents identified three main challenges: access to safe water, pollution and the cost of water.
Lack of access to safe drinking water and water pollution were each identified by 24.6% of respondents as the biggest water challenge in their communities. 19.3% identified the high cost of water, while 15.8% identified weak government investment in water infrastructure.
This shows that water insecurity extends beyond water availability to whether it is safe and affordable.
What should the manifesto focus on?
The protection of rivers, wetlands and groundwater was the most selected priority, at 66.7%.
Other priorities included:
59.6% - universal access to clean and affordable water
47.4% - preventing industrial and mining pollution
43.9% - climate-resilient water infrastructure
26.3% - youth participation in water decision-making
22.8% - sustainable agriculture and irrigation
19.3% - community-led water governance
These responses show that respondents want the manifesto to address both access to water and the protection of water sources.
Governance and participation
Respondents also identified stronger government policies, enforcement and community participation as important actions.
57.9% selected stronger government policies as an action that could make the greatest difference. 52.6% selected better enforcement against polluters, while 50.9% selected community-led water management.
Youth participation was also strongly supported. 94.7% of respondents considered formal youth participation in water decision-making very or extremely important.
In addition, 87.7% said they would like to participate in further development of the manifesto.
Who is most affected?
Respondents identified rural communities (36.8%), women and girls (33.3%), and farmers (21.1%) as the groups most affected by water challenges.
Young people, urban informal settlements and other groups were also identified.
These responses will help us consider how issues such as gender, livelihoods, agriculture, inequality and climate change connect with water insecurity.
What happens next?
Our next phase will use the poll as a foundation rather than an endpoint: broaden geographic participation, validate the emerging priorities through thematic consultations, and translate them into a small set of clear, measurable and regionally relevant demands.