Youth Across Indonesia Gathered to Value Water at the World Water Day 2021 Celebration

In association with the World Water Day celebration, UNESCO Jakarta virtually launched the World Water Development Report 2021 on Friday, 30 April, to culminate a series of related activities organized since March. The launch of the report with the theme “Valuing Water” was witnessed by Mr Bob Arthur Lombogia, Director of Rivers and Beaches, Directorate General of Water Resources, Ministry of Public Works and Housing of Indonesia, along with other key stakeholders, private sectors and more than 200 youth from across Indonesia.

Other key speakers included Prof. Arief Rachman, Executive Chair of the Indonesian National Commission for UNESCO, the Indonesia Global Compact Network, and Miss Environment Indonesia 2020.

UNESCO also announced the winner of a national essay competition on “Valuing Water”. The three best essays were selected amongst more than one hundred high-quality entries submitted by youth across Indonesia addressing different topics relating to the overall theme. The essay competition was organized to support and facilitate young people to express their stories associated with Valuing Water as the theme of World Water Day 2021. The winning essay, submitted by Ms Elnaya Mahadevi Pillian, examined the association between water and mental health. The essay could be accessed from here

The event is part of awareness-raising activities on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 6 on Clean Water and Sanitation.