Maputo – Sindy Mthimkhulu, Executive Secretary of the Incomati and Maputo Watercourse Commission, called on youth and women to take active roles in managing shared water resources at the REMCO 2025 conference. Her keynote, titled “Breaking Barriers and Driving Impact,” focused on the essential contributions of young people and women to sustainable water governance and climate adaptation.
Mthimkhulu said women and youth are frontline actors in water access, innovation, and decision-making. She identified structural and cultural barriers they face, including visibility gaps, tokenism, gatekeeping, and lack of resources, and stressed that both institutional reform and personal agency are needed to overcome them.
The keynote outlined leadership traits necessary for navigating complex shared watercourses, including integrity, resilience, systemic thinking, initiative, and communication. Mthimkhulu also detailed practical skills for emerging leaders such as governance literacy, data fluency, negotiation, and storytelling.
She introduced the BREAK Framework, a roadmap for young and female professionals to break systemic barriers and advance their careers. The framework encourages building skills, reaching networks, engaging platforms, advocating with evidence, and delivering tangible results.
Mthimkhulu urged institutions to translate commitments into action by funding paid internships and fellowships, granting real decision-making power, designing inclusive meetings, ensuring transparent recruitment, and tracking progress on representation. She encouraged participants to plug into basin forums, professional networks, practice arenas, and learning platforms, noting that small wins can lead to bigger opportunities.
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