Indonesian youth wins big championing sanitation

At the closing of the 10th World Water Forum on 24 May, Indonesia’s Youth with Sanitation Concern (YSC) received the Kyoto World Water Grand Prize 2024 from the Japan Water Forum. The award includes a cash prize of 2 million yen. It recognises grassroots organisations that can sustain community projects for at least three years.

Outcompeting over 70 contestants from around the world and across age groups, the YSC has pledged to use their prize to further promote behavioural changes in sanitation through social media and network with similar groups to help amplify their messages.

As digital natives, they leverage platforms like Instagram, YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), and LinkedIn to spread their campaign messages. The country’s youth are among the most active social media users globally, spending over three hours daily on social media platforms. Their technological fluency, innovative spirit, and passion enable them to use social media not just as a tool for communication but to catalyse real-world action.

They highlight how WASH issues intersect with everyday activities, making these more relatable and understandable to the public. Since 2018, they actively promoted handwashing with soap and menstrual health and hygiene management. To kickstart an awareness-raising campaign about the poor conditions of toilets and handwashing stations, they reviewed facilities in their own ‘backyard’: their homes and schools. They shared their observations across social media channels.

They encourage broader discussions about sanitation, such as:

1. The importance of safely managing and separating human excreta and urine from living spaces and water sources.

2. The need for (and availability) of professional service providers for faecal sludge management.

3. The importance of joint responsibility – men and women – in maintaining and cleaning facilities.

YSC members have also hosted online podcasts with government and non-government experts and actively engaged in internal platforms such as the Faecal Sludge Management Alliance (FSMA) and fora, including the World Water Forum.

They’re among the go-to partners of the Health Office of the City government of Bandar Lampung for sanitation initiatives. With SNV, YSC supported the Kampung Hijau (Green village initiative), which rehabilitated a community toilet and increased subscription to a community waste bank for faecal sludge management. The waste bank has made it possible for residents to convert their collected waste, e.g., plastics, bottles to currency for the payment of faecal sludge (FS) management services. The YSC also mobilised the construction of a Tripikon-S type septic tank in a coastal village community, minimising the risk of groundwater pollution. Compared to the conventional tank, this model is suitable for areas with high water tables, making it a safer choice in areas prone to flooding.

These efforts help build communities' climate resilience by promoting sustainable waste management and protecting water resources, crucial steps in maintaining healthy communities and ecosystems.

* About YSC: The YSC is a youth movement from Bandar Lampung City formed during an SNV-WASH SDG programme-supported youth camp in 2018. The youth camp aimed to raise young people’s (17-23 years of age) awareness of the significance of water, sanitation, and hygiene services and what they can do to promote good behaviours. From its humble beginnings of 63 members, today’s YSC has grown to 116. The YSC has been a registered entity in Indonesia since May 2024.

**Contact our youth and water experts in Indonesia, Annisa Putri (Knowledge Management Officer) or Gunawan Meliyandoko (PME Officer) through our Indonesian office.