Expert group on youth rights works for greater youth input in Universal Periodic Review of the UN Human Rights Council

The Youth Forum’s Expert Group on Youth Rights held its third meeting in Brussels, Belgium from Saturday 30th April to Sunday 1st May, focusing on the progress of mainstreaming the rights of young people through existing processes, specifically the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the UN Human Rights Council.

The UPR of the Human Rights Council is a process through which UN Member States review one another every 4.5 years on their human rights records and provide recommendations for improvement. Civil society organisations can also submit reports, which are compiled into a central stakeholders’ report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

The Youth Forum has been advocating for greater involvement and engagement of youth organisations in this process because it often overlooks young people.

At the UN Human Rights Council in March, 68 countries supported a Cross-Regional Statement on youth and human rights, which calls for special attention to be paid to issues pertaining to the full enjoyment of human rights of youth, including through the Universal Periodic Review (available in English here, at 10:19). The Cross-Regional Statement is a valuable tool for youth organisations to highlight their role in the UPR, as well as a reminder to States regarding the need to involve youth organisations when carrying out national consultations in the context of the UPR.

Lithuanian Youth Council (LiJOT) and the National Youth Council of Moldova (CNTM) both submitted reports jointly with the Youth Forum- Lithuania and the Republic of Moldova are both due to be reviewed by the UPR Working Group in November 2016. LiJOT focused on gaps in employment and mental healthcare, while CNTM has underlined the barriers young people face in voting and being elected, development, poverty reduction and freedom from poverty, as well as equality and non-discrimination. The Expert Group welcomed the progress, emphasising that the UPR provides a unique opportunity to highlight the barriers young people face in accessing their rights, and developed advocacy strategies to lobby for the inclusion of the recommendations put forward by the National Youth Councils.

The Expert Group also brainstormed priorities for youth rights beyond 2016, highlighting the need for continued use of existing mechanisms and legal tools to promote youth rights.