IIMA and VIDES Participation in the 54th Session of the Human Rights Council

The United Nations Human Rights Council held its Fifty-fourth session from 11 September to 13 October 2023 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

The agenda of the session included several high-level meetings addressing crucial human rights issues. IIMA and VIDES International, together with other partners, delivered two oral statements on youth and human rights, one under Item 3 – Interactive Dialogue with the Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order (text and video) and a another one on the occasion of the Panel discussion on “Youth participation in climate change and global environmental decision-making processes” (text and video). Both statements highlighted the importance of ensuring substantial, transformative, and meaningful youth participation in all the decision-making processes, including in the field of environmental protection. Among the main barriers, IIMA and VIDES highlighted the lack of motivation from young people to engage towards global actions due to distrust in public political institutions and local authorities. To adequately address these challenges and unlock youth potential as human rights advocates, IIMA and VIDES called upon Member States to: (i) Ensure effective and transformative participation of youth in decision-making processes; (ii) Systematically mainstream youth rights through existing UN Human Rights mechanisms, especially the UPR and the Treaty Bodies. IIMA and VIDES statements were delivered by young people from the Philippines and Italy respectively. 

Furthermore, oral statements were delivered on the occasion of the Panel discussion on Cyberbullying against Children, and the Panel discussion on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Finally, during the HRC session, IIMA and VIDES were also happy to co-sponsor: two side events relating to youth and human rights, entitled respectively : “Embedding Youth Leadership and Participation Into Climate Action and Decision-Making Within and Beyond the Caritas Network”, organized by Caritas Internationalis; and “Advancing youth rights across UN human rights mechanisms”, organized by the European Youth Forum.

The texts and videos of all oral statements are available on IIMA website.