The Youth Environmental Justice and Gender Equality (YOGE), with support from IUCNs BRIDGE Women Leadership Grants, will on June 22nd, 23rd & 24th, 2026 embark in a media and storytelling awareness campaign to advance inclusive water governance and promote conservation of water resources along the Ruvuma Basin in Tanzania.
The Media and Storytelling Awareness Campaign at the source of the Ruvuma basin is designed to spotlight the inspiring success stories of women and youth who are safeguarding vital water resources, while also documenting achievements from the Voices for Water project. By inviting media representatives to witness these efforts firsthand, the campaign weaves authentic narratives with on-site coverage and fosters community dialogue. In doing so, it underscores the importance of women’s leadership, youth innovation, and inclusive governance as cornerstones of sustainable water management, ultimately strengthening community ownership and advancing equitable stewardship of the Ruvuma basin.
The move is meant to reduce gender-based barriers in leadership, enhance positive shifts in community attitudes towards women’s participation in water resource management along the basin, advance the preservation of water resources and advance the conservation of environment in the Ruvuma Basin. The media campaign is also meant to enable women and youth to actively engage in conflict resolution and peace building around the basin and is expected to reach approximately 20,000 people in Ruvuma basin. 
The initiative is part of the project “Inclusive Freshwater Governance for Sustainable Communities in the Ruvuma Basin – Voices for Water”, supported by IUCN through its BRIDGE (Building River Dialogue and Governance) Programme.
Key implementing partners for this initiative include the Tanzania Media for Community Development (TAMCODE), the Ruvuma Southern and Coastal Water Basin Board, the Office of the Regional Commissioner of Ruvuma, the Office of the District Commissioner of Mbinga District and Songea District, Mbinga Town Council, and Songea Municipal Council in the Ruvuma Region.
The Inclusive Freshwater Governance for Sustainable Communities in the Ruvuma Basin – “Voices for Water” project seeks to strengthen community participation and equity in water governance across the Ruvuma Basin in southern Tanzania.
For the past 5 months, the Voices for Water project has been able to build the capacity of Local government authorities, local communities, women, youth, marginalized groups, water resource management authorities, water user associations, Local CBOs, and journalists to ensure their active involvement in decision-making platforms such as sub-catchment water committees and user associations.
Through a combination of trainings, advocacy, and multi-stakeholder dialogues, the project has helped to promote sustainable water management, conflict resolution, and climate-resilient practices that safeguard both livelihoods and ecosystems.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)s Building River Dialogue and Governance (BRIDGE) Women Leadership Grants support women-led and women-focused initiatives that strengthen leadership in freshwater governance and ecosystem restoration. The grants enhance the capacity of women and their organizations to lead actions that benefit shared basins and promote resilient freshwater ecosystems. For more information, please visit: BRIDGE Programme Grants – The IUCN Water Knowledge Platform.
The Youth Environmental Justice and Gender Equality (YOGE) is a youth-led organization based in Tanzania, committed to advancing inclusive and sustainable development by empowering youth, women, and marginalized groups across the country. For more information, please visit: Website:www.yoge.or.tz, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577492116633 and Instagram: yoge_tz,
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