I had the thrilling experience of sitting in the Children and Youth chair and making an intervention on behalf of young people about drought and the importance of addressing and reducing the causes, namely over-consumption of water. It was truly gratifying to hear the Chairman say in his overall session summary that he agreed with the statement made by Children and Youth, that yes, the decisions the delegates make are all about us. Honestly, every part of the process leading up to the statement delivery was something I'll cherish for the rest of my life. We worked in a multi-national group of youth to determine what goals and actions to highlight and then used a case study that I worked on for the past two months with my dedicated Drought and Desertification working group (thanks girls!).

The past week and a half have flown by in a haze of drafting, discussing, meeting, and presenting. I had the chance to write down my personal thoughts during the last review session of CSD-13 Water and Sanitation Decisions that took place today. I organized my thoughts in case Children and Youth had the chance to make an intervention in the afternoon session. We made an intervention in the morning and did not end up being able to deliver a second intervention. Nevertheless, it was a useful excercise to think back on the last two days and three review sessions to organize what my personal priorities and suggestions are. If I had the chance to tell the delegates, major groups, and UN affiliates what I thought about water and sanitation, I would have said the following:

Once again, children and youth would like to encourage you to implement long-term, wholistic solutions.  We will have to live with the decisions you make and its consequences.

Education and awareness are powerful tools for many situations. Educational programs about hygiene and gender-friendly sanitation solutions in schools encourage higher rates of attendance and empower youth to share information with their families, disseminating hygiene information on the community level.

To fully address the unmet goals for water and sanitation, we must look even beyond education to the sources of water contamination and focus on prevention. If we are thinking in the mindset of reducing, reusing, and recycling, water reclamation plants are a practical, existing technology that can be implemented in both rural and urban areas to provide a recycled source of drinking, agricultural, and industrial water.

Please include youth in these important dialogues and decision-making processes. 

Consider our energy and fresh outlooks as assetts. 

Your decisions will define our future.