"Pre-Human Rights Council Youth Forum: The Intergenerational Dialogue"

Ms. Harper,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to warmly welcome you to the Palais des Nations at the opening of the Second Youth Forum convened by the World Young Women’s Christian Association (World YWCA). As a global network of women and girls leading social and economic change in some 120 countries and thousands of local communities, the World YWCA has an important track record in advancing women’s rights for more than a century. With its rich experience at local, national and international levels it is not surprising that the World YWCA decided to empower and mobilise young committed individuals by providing them with the space to have a dialogue on human rights of youth and to develop recommendations for the Human Rights Council. I am encouraged to see so many young people in this room – women and men - interested in advocating for their human rights and making sure your voices are heard.

It is now the first time in history that we have so many young people in the world – 1.8 billion of you, a quarter of humanity. This is an enormous potential for economic and social progress, but there are also many challenges, for example, in access to education, health, employment, sustainable development as well as opportunities to live in the world free from violence and discrimination.

All over the world, young people are taking action to claim their human rights, mobilizing for justice and for peace. Our duty is to help strengthen the capacity of young generations to act as drivers of positive change. The United Nations made progress in making youth rights visible across the system, including through the creation of the mandate of the Special Envoy of the Secretary General on Youth and the adoption by the Security Council of resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security (2015). Nevertheless, more needs to be done to shift from working for young people to working with young people in addressing global challenges.

That is why I am encouraged by the way the World YWCA decided to support and empower young people in bringing their voices to the Human Rights Council. It has been a process. The youth declaration that was developed at the first forum in 2016 fed into the subsequent session of the Human Rights Council, and it was brought to the first session of the newly established mechanism of the Council – the Forum on Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law, which discussed the role of youth in public decision-making in November 2016. This year, the programme of the Second Youth Forum features not only the event of today, but an advanced preparation to it, starting from online global consultation with young people, targeted consultations with young women at the national and local levels, and training on advocacy. An outcome document will be brought to the attention of the Human Rights Council at its upcoming session. This is exactly where I see the strong role of non-governmental organizations in facilitating inputs from young people into the discussions of intergovernmental bodies, to which they do not yet have a direct access.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

You are here today to bring your issues, concerns and aspirations to the agenda of the Human Rights Council, which starts next week. This Forum is an entry point for your voices to be heard by the principal multilateral human rights body within the United Nations. Make sure that your voices are not only loud, but clear, and that your recommendations are constructive and realistic, innovative and future-oriented. I look forward to receiving the results of your work.

I wish you a fruitful discussion.
Thank you very much.