Fourth Human Rights Youth Challenge

On the occasion of World Water Day (22 March 2021), the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, Mr. Pedro Arrojo Agudo, is organizing a Fourth Human Rights Youth Challenge together with the Permanent Mission of Spain, the Permanent Mission of Germany, UN-Water, UNEP, UNESCO-IHP and the Special Rapporteur on environment and the human rights, Mr. David Boyd.

The water and sanitation sector is in need of new ideas on how to raise awareness that access to water and sanitation are human rights. Youth, with their creativity and different ways of thinking and expressing, can contribute to bringing innovation to this sector and advancing a much needed paradigm shift from the traditional focus on infrastructure, technology and finance to one with people at the centre. In order to involve and to hear from youth in this paradigm shift, the series of Human Rights Youth Challenge, organized by the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, is an opportunity for youth to show knowledge, understanding and passion about the human rights to water and sanitation by creating original content. The former Special Rapporteur, Leo Heller, organized three Human Rights Youth Challenges (see Annex).

This year, on the World Water Day (22 March 2021), the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation– together with the Permanent Mission of Spain, the Permanent Mission of Germany, UNESCO-IHP, UNEP , UN-Water and the Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, Mr. David Boyd – invites youth ages between 16 to 24 to produce a video on “the impact of climate change on the human rights to drinking water and sanitation”.