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YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS: The Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and the Minister of Territorial Administration Armen Gevorgyan was hosted today in Sevan by the members of the 11th European Youth Parliament for Water. This year Armenia was selected to be the host country of the Youth Parliament and on May 12-19 90 young people from 15 European countries have been discussing issues related to the water resources management.
As Armenpress was reported by the Department for Public Relations of the Ministry of Territorial Administration of the Republic of Armenia, the Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan welcomed the participants of the Parliament, noting that the subject of the discussion is very important and urgent in Armenia and other countries as well. The Minister of Territorial Administration stated with joy that the young people are interested in such important issues and welcomed their aspiration to be participants in the settlement of such issues.
Armen Gevorgyan stated that the issues of the effective management of the water resources are in the agenda of the Government of the Republic of Armenia. He presented information about the intended and implemented programs.
Governance systems determine who gets which water, when and how. The representation of various interests in water decision making and the role of politics are important components in addressing governance dynamics. It is in fact a system of participative water managementconcerning different actors: public and private bodies, local population, associations in order to share and preserve the resource in the respect of human rights.
As water is an essential resource, youth should be involved in all discussions and decisions taken at local, regional or national level in order to be really democratic regarding water governance.
The young participants of the 11thEuropean Youth Parliament for Water will try to answer this question by writing and voting ona common Declarationas well as elaboratingcreative awareness tools.
The 11thEuropean Youth Parliament for Water aims to encourage and support youth actions at the European level and also at local communities in order to raise citizen’s awareness and to contribute to the increase of youth participation in water governance as a political priority.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenia has shown a great potential in the implementation of local projects where local authorities, private bodies and the population work together for water. Indeed, the different stakeholders manage to come to agreements and find consensus for the access to water and sanitation. The key for this success isactive citizenship, participative water management and transparency. Armenia is the best place to talk about good water governance.