FLOW at UNECE Regional Conference
Emily Lorra Hines
United Nations, Geneva, March 2023
Emily Lorra Hines, FLOW Director, spoke at the UNECE Regional Conference in Geneva, Switzerland to highlight the future of youth employment in the water sector.
Dear delegates, peers and water champions, thank you for having me here today to represent youth in the water sector
My name is Emily Lorra Hines and I am the director of the forum for leadership on water (flow), a non profit based in Canada that provides freshwater policy and strategy to multiple levels of government.
Before this job, I worked 11 unpaid internships in and around this sector. I joined countless youth organizations where I volunteered my time, energy and money, almost always in addition to a full time job, all with one goal: to enter the water sector and make a difference.
While the UN water conference was inclusive of youth, it posed a major problem: youth participation was used as a one-way opportunity for upcoming water professionals, not as a two-way intergenerational dialogue.
We are in a global cost of living crisis, and it is predatory to continue to ask for youth involvement that relies on energy exchange and empty promises of exposure, possible professional gain and networking. You must invest in youth through employment, and move past consultations, consideration and unpaid labour.
Youth in the water sector bring three key attributes to a sustainable water future: optimism, passion and innovation. We want to work, not volunteer, alongside you and create major change across disciplines to achieve SDG 6.
If meaningful youth involvement is a criterium that is to be met in the water action agenda, and a leading question today, it cannot rely solely on those that can afford airfare to conferences or have the privilege to volunteer energy and time.
Our collective passion for the water sector is boundless and we have the tools to solve the global water crisis alongside member states, private enterprise and civil society. Now it is crucial to set up the next generation for climate success.
Remember: Youth are not just the future of water, we are also the present. Invest in us now and together we can rise to solve the water crisis.
“ Remember: Youth are not just the future of water, we are also the present. Invest in us now and together we can rise to solve the water crisis.”