Women, Water & Youth: Joint Conference of the Arab International Women's Forum & the Center for Mediterranean Integration

A JOINT INITIATIVE OF THE ARAB INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S FORUM & THE CENTER FOR MEDITERRANEAN INTEGRATION

The Arab International Women’s Forum (AIWF) and the Center for Mediterranean Integration (CMI) are proud to host a high-level conference on Women, Water & Youth, which will take place in Amman, Jordan on 26 – 27 September 2018.

Women, Water & Youth is a milestone in AIWF’s 17-year advocacy for sustainable empowerment, economic opportunity, education, mobility and prosperity for women and young people in the Arab world. The conference programme and objectives have been designed in partnership between AIWF and world-leading subject matter specialists at the CMI, which has extensive and unparalleled expertise in the MENA region and beyond in helping countries achieve transformative reforms, advancing refugee inclusion, promoting labour mobility, building economic and social cohesion, cross-border trade, investment, and scientific and cultural exchange to enhance Mediterranean integration.

AIWF and CMI look forward to working with all partners and participants to make Women, Water & Youth a highly interactive, impact-driven conference that will bring governments, the private sector, civil society, women and youth together to innovate new solutions for the food and water crises in the MENA region and better understand how the challenges of water scarcity, women's underparticipation in the economy, and youth unemployment impact the lives of women and young people.

CONFERENCE THEMES

Women, Water & Youth takes an intersectional approach to three critical development challenges for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region – water scarcity, women’s economic participation, and youth unemployment. Themes of the conference, titled Women, Water & Youth, are aligned with the core priority policy areas of AIWF and the Center for Mediterranean Integration, and include:

DAY ONE

1 Women and water governance in the MENA

2 Gender equity in sustainable agriculture and food production

3 Building youth capacity to address water scarcity challenges in the Arab water sector through entrepreneurship and social enterprise

4 Building capacity for women and youth in the Arab water sector through ‘smart’ technology and edtech innovation

DAY TWO

5 Impact of water scarcity in the MENA refugee and internal displacement crisis

6 Reflections of women leaders and young innovators addressing water scarcity, sustainability, environmental and development challenges in the MENA region

CONFERENCE OBJECTIVES

Rising social tensions and a collapse in social trust are likely potential outcomes for the region should critical development challenges remain unaddressed. The conference will demonstrate the intrinsic link between the challenges of water scarcity, women’s economic empowerment, and youth unemployment, providing fertile ground for participants and panelists to come up with new solutions to increasingly urgent problems through technological innovation, education and youth engagement, and a renewed effort to promote water governance measures.

The conference aims to bring women – who are most affected by water challenges, food insecurity, armed conflict and displacement, and reduced economic opportunity – into the conversation. It will also bring vital youth voices to the table to explore ways in which women-led / targeted, and youth-led / targeted initiatives might solve environmental and sustainability challenges whilst simultaneously promoting women’s economic participation and leadership and addressing the crisis of youth unemployment in the region.

The conference will connect established women leaders in water and the international development sectors with rising stars who are breaking new ground to address the challenges of food, water and energy in the MENA region head on through the use of transformative technology and innovative, out-of-the-box projects and initiatives. AIWF looks forward to welcoming prominent speakers and guests who will help bring our conference objectives to life, by sharing their research into critical issues around women, youth, water and food insecurity, bringing their own experiences and expertise into the discussions. Highly interactive, impact-driven discussions and panel debates that are a hallmark of AIWF conferences will contribute actionable insights and results-oriented recommendations from thought leaders, change agents and key actors whose expertise spans the most critical issues facing the MENA region: water, food security, sustainability, women and youth.

CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS

The Women, Water & Youth conference in Amman will bring together no less than 200 participants, including change agents, young professionals, academics, representatives of media, government and civil society, as well as postgraduate and doctoral students representing STEM university institutes and those studying international development, international relations, environmental sciences, politics, Middle East studies, and sustainability in Jordan and the MENA.

The conference will call for the engagement of international, regional and local actors, bringing together Arab governments, the private sector, and civil society, to support innovative entrepreneurship, research and initiatives that directly address the need for technology and investment in education whilst promoting the urgency of water governance in the region. Additionally, the conference will examine strategies to support and empower women and young people to address environmental challenges in the region through public service, entrepreneurship and social enterprise.

Through high-level panel sessions, each panel addressed by global and emerging young leaders, both panelists and participants will engage in frank discussion in a supportive environment on water governance, gender equity in sustainable agriculture, trends and technologies to boost water security in the region, and capacity building in the water sector through training, education, entrepreneurship and social enterprise. The conference programme also includes a unique high-level session during which women leaders and young innovators in the water, sustainability and development sectors will share innovative solutions, projects and initiatives that directly address critical water, food and security challenges in the Arab world.