Members of the youth parliament take to the streets of Vorniceni, Moldova, to talk with locals about access to safe drinking water.

The Seventh European Youth Parliament for Water was held in Moldova this September. The event brought together 90 European youth aged 13 to 20 and adult stakeholders in the field of water under the theme, ‘Access to drinking water and sanitation in rural areas’.

To prepare for the parliament, the youngsters worked on a diagnostic of a local village, Vorniceni, together with water experts from the Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency and village elected officials. The diagnostic included a survey of the inhabitants, an assessment of the water sources in the village, and interviews with responsible stakeholders. The results fed debates in the parliament sessions that followed.

“This is a long-term project,” said Nadia Triboi, President of the Seventh European Youth Parliament for Water, “so the benefit will remain for the future generation.”

After the parliamentary session, youth representatives were invited by ICPDR President Constantin Mihaelescu to present the youth parliament process to a forum of NGOs from the Danube and Black Sea, organised by the Moldovan Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources in partnership with the ICPDR.

“Every problem has more than one solution,” said Triboi, “but the first condition is to work together in order to find the best information and to take the correct decision.”

The Youth Parliaments for Water are organised by Solidarity Water Europe, based in Strasburg, France.

Kirstie Shepherd is a freelance journalist and the Editor of Danube
Watch. She has called the Danube River Basin home since 2000.