Unpacking the Role of Youth in Kenya Water Compact 2026-2030

On 25 May 2026, the Kenya Youth Parliament of Water (KYPW), in partnership with the Africa Water Ambassadors, hosted a Zoom webinar titled 'From Compact to Implementation: The Role of Youth in Kenya's Water Compact (2026-2030)'.

The session brought together youth water advocates, engineers, policy experts, and government representatives to unpack Kenya's newly signed Water Compact under the global Water Forward Initiative - a national commitment to achieve universal water and sanitation access, expand irrigation, and mobilise close to US$10 billion over five years.

Programme Overview (3:00 - 5:15 PM EAT):

- Session 1: Governance Reforms in the Water Compact - facilitated by Danielle Kamtie, Co-Founder, African Youth Parliament for Water, moderated by Njeri Ngugi

- Session 2: Kenya's Water Compact - Overview and Relevance to Youth - presented by the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation (MoWSI)

- Session 3: Policy Dialogue - From Compact to Implementation - multi-stakeholder panel moderated by Roy Okola

- Q&A and Open Discussion

- Closing Remarks and Call to Action by Stella Wanjiru

Panel for Session 3:

- Victoria Adwet - Founder, Kisumu Youth WASH Parliament

- Richard Muraya - Executive Director, The Demography Project

- Judith Mwangi - Water Engineer, SDSN Fellow, WOMATE Champion

- Clavine Keiza - Civil and Environmental Engineer, African Union Scholar

The session addressed three core pillars: Youth in Governance and Policy, Advocacy and Accountability, and Practical Engagement Pathways - equipping youth with clear entry points for engaging with Kenya's water sector transformation.

The Kenya Water Compact (2026-2030) represents the most comprehensive water sector programme in Kenya's history, committing to universal safe water access, eliminating open defecation, reducing non-revenue water losses from 45% to 25%, and doubling irrigated land from 760,000 to 1.5 million acres by 2030.