Young Water Fellowship: Empowering the next generation of water entrepreneurs

Young Water Solutions (

Non-governmental organization (NGO)

)

#SDGAction50599

Description

The Young Water Fellowship (YWF) empowers since 2017 local young people in low and middle income countries to validate, launch and scale social businesses that address WASH issues in their communities, by offering technical and financial support through training, coaching, seed funding, and the expansion of their supporting networks. The YWF works in the entire ''WASH entrepreneurial pipeline'': The YWF Hackathons provide young people the tools to come up with innovative WASH business ideas; the YWF Incubation provides business training for the creation and validation of their business models, coaching and funding for prototypes and pilot projects; and the YWF Springboard provides operating youth-led WASH businesses the tools to strengthen their models and improve their financial management, marketing and impact measurement strategies.
Young Water Solutions leads the YWF implementation, engaging local incubators that can build their capacities in water entrepreneurship through the co-delivery of the programmes.

Expected Impact

In the first 5 years of implementation of the YWF, Young Water Solutions supported more than 100 start-ups with an impact in more than 1.2 million people who improved their access to WASH through their products and services. From air-to-water technologies that provide drinking water in water scarce areas in Kenya, to SODIS-based water filters for rainharvesting systems in Brazil, to reusable pads-making in Uganda, to bricks for toilets made with recycled plastic collected from beaches in Ivory Coast and Tanzania: the range of technologies implemented by ''Young Water Fellows'' is broad, and so are the benefits for local communities.
In the next 7 years we expect to duplicate this impact by building capacities and giving the resources to 200 youth-led start-ups to create and scale sustainable businesses that address not only SDG 6 and 14-related challenges, but also create employment and work from a gender approach.

Partners

Institutional implementing partners:
cewas
Waseu
ygap
concree
Impact Hub CDMX
Centro Smart

Direct beneficiaries: Local young entrepreneurs 18-35 years old willing to create WASH social businesses

Additional information

https://www.youtube.com/@youngwatersolutions9912
https://www.facebook.com/youngwatersolutions

SDGS & Targets

Goal 6

Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

6.1

By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all

6.1.1

Proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services

6.2

By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations

6.2.1

Proportion of population using (a) safely managed sanitation services and (b) a hand-washing facility with soap and water

6.3

By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally

6.3.1

Proportion of domestic and industrial wastewater flows safely treated

6.3.2

Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality

6.4

By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity

6.4.1

Change in water-use efficiency over time

6.4.2

Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources

6.5

By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate

6.5.1

Degree of integrated water resources management

6.5.2

Proportion of transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement for water cooperation

6.6

By 2020, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes

6.6.1

Change in the extent of water-related ecosystems over time

6.a

By 2030, expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water- and sanitation-related activities and programmes, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies

6.a.1

Amount of water- and sanitation-related official development assistance that is part of a government-coordinated spending plan

6.b

Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management

6.b.1

Proportion of local administrative units with established and operational policies and procedures for participation of local communities in water and sanitation management

SDG 14 targets covered

Name	Description

Deliverables & Timeline

31 December, 2030

Empower 200 teams of young entrepreneurs in low and middle income countries to create and scale social businesses that enable that 2 Million people improve their access to WASH

Resources mobilized

Staff / Technical expertise

Programme managers with WASH incubation expertise to run the programmes, train and coach the entrepreneurs

Financing (in USD)

All the funding raised by Young Water Solutions will go towards achievement this goal

Partnership Progress

No progress reports have been submitted. Please sign in and click here to submit one.

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