Meaningful Youth Participation Statement HRC46

Meaningful Youth Participation Statement HRC46

News
April 3, 2021

46TH HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL SESSION

Statement by CHOICE on Meaningful Youth Participation at the Human Rights Council and within the UN Human Rights Mechanisms. 

WATCH OUR STATEMENT ON UN WEB TV HERE: 

Statement by Stichting CHOICE for Youth and Sexuality

 

See our full statement below:

 

Madam president and member states of the UN, 

 

Over the last 3 years we have been monitoring the work of this council and its efforts to promote and respect the human rights of youth.  

 

We are concerned by resolutions that are tabled in this council. In 2020, out of 91 resolutions adopted by the HRC, only 26% mentioned youth in their text. Only 11% of resolutions mentioned youth in more than one sentence. Alarmingly, these percentages are significantly lower than the preceding year.  

 

We commend Special Procedures mandate holders, who have increased their dedication to youth rights. 63% of their reports in 2020 mentioned youth. However, only 49% of reports did so in more than one sentence. We urge mandate holders to continue making a concerted effort to include youth in their work, while further urging states to submit youth-focused evidence to the calls for input. 

 

We call upon member states to intensify your efforts to have resolutions reflect the needs and rights of the people you were elected to serve. Meaningful and inclusive youth participation must be at core of this council’s functioning. We are here to work with you to realize this endeavor. However, we warn you that we have no more time for empty promises. 

 

We hope to discuss an improvement of these statistics when we report again to this council in 2022. 

 

We thank you.