Milestone for youth rights at the United Nations

Yesterday, in a milestone for the recognition of youth rights at the United Nations, the Human Rights Council hosted a panel discussion on youth and human rights. The European Youth Forum called for commitment and action towards giving young people full access to their rights in order to prevent them from being left behind.

The panel debate featured the Youth Forum’s President, Johanna Nyman, as well as other civil society organisations and representatives from the UN’s Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as well as UNESCO’s regional office for Central Africa, who highlighted discrimination against young people globally and the consistent blocking of young people from accessing their human rights.

The European Youth Forum called on United Nations member states to take concrete action and uphold their responsibility to work towards a better future for young people. It called for:

• A report mapping the obstacles young people face in accessing their rights

• The appointment of an independent expert or special rapporteur youth rights

• Guidelines, to be developed by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, directing member states on how to implement a rights-based approach to youth policy.

• A joint general comment or joint statement on youth, by all Treaty Bodies of the United Nations.

• Youth to be “mainstreamed” in existing human rights mechanisms, such as the Universal Periodic Review

Johanna Nyman, President of the European Youth Forum, said:

“Young people are deprived of their human rights. It is time for United Nations Member States to act for youth! We were delighted to be part of the panel at the Human Rights Council and this has been a great step in the right direction. But we were not here to ask for a favour, we simply ask the member states to take on their basic responsibility to work towards a better future for young people.”

Member States highlighted their main actions and priorities when it comes to youth in their countries and, in particular, they focused on the importance of providing human rights education, as well as giving young people access to their right to political participation and involvement in decision making.

A number of Member States highlighted the issue of youth unemployment, however the Youth Forum underlined the importance of sustaining and increasing investment in initiatives to boost youth employment.

In November there will be a Forum on Human Rights, Democracy and Rule of Law, whose first session will be on “Widening the democratic space: the role of youth in public decision making”. The Youth Forum is looking forward to this opportunity to explore how young people can participate in policy making in a meaningful way and calls for youth orgnanisations to be involved in the Forum.

- Ends -

Notes for editors

More about the panel debate can be found here.

A report from the panel will be prepared for the 35th Session of the Human Rights Council, in June 2017.

About the European Youth Forum

The European Youth Forum is the platform of youth organisations in Europe. Independent, democratic, youth-led, it over 100 National Youth Councils and international youth organisations from across the continent. The Forum works to empower young people to participate actively in society to improve their own lives, by representing and advocating their needs and interests and those of their organisations towards the European Union, the Council of Europe and the United Nations. For more information, visit www.youthforum.org

MEDIA CONTACTS: Sarah Farndale, communications coordinator at the European Youth Forum (e: sarah.farndale@youthforum.org / tel: +32 496396765)