Webinar: Empowering Youth as Human Rights Advocates
On May 14, 2024, VIDES International and IIMA Human Rights Office came together to host an online webinar titled “Empowering Youth as Human Rights Advocates,” with keynote speaker Helen Griffiths of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The online event highlighted efforts among participating organizations to promote youth participation in advocacy work and included a presentation of the Youth Rights Advocacy Toolkit launched by the OHCHR. In addition to members of the participating organizations, the webinar also brought together a number of young people, who shared their views on how to boost human rights promotion with and for youth.
The webinar, run by Maria D’Onofrio, IIMA and VIDES Advocacy Officer, began with an introduction by Sarah Garcia, the Director of IIMA and VIDES Human Rights Office in Geneva. Garcia welcomed everyone to the event, emphasizing the importance of youth advocacy, and shared a video highlighting IIMA Global Youth Initiative for Human Rights.
Rubina Cantele of VIDES International then presented on the VIDES project Youth to Reshape the World—Youth as Advocates and Agents of Transformative Actions in Social Inclusion and Environment Protection. The three year project, which will take place from 2023-2025, is funded by the European Union and consists of four primary objectives in line with the EU Youth Strategy: 1) To empower youth to become agents of change for social inclusion and environmental protection in their communities, 2) To capacitate youth to become advocates for ecology and inclusive societies, 3) To increase intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding, and 4) To enhance internal and external communication of the VIDES network and increase the organization’s visibility.
Following these opening remarks, Helen Griffiths of the Child and Youth Rights Unit of OHCHR spoke on the topic of “Realizing Youth Rights With and For Young People.” The presentation began with an explanation of OHCHR’s strategies to work towards this goal, which include the promotion of youth rights, the promotion of youth participation, working with youth- and student-led organizations, and advocacy for greater concern for youth among international human rights mechanisms. Griffiths highlighted five resolutions on youth and human rights that have been adopted by the Human Rights Council (HRC) since 2016. She also noted advancements in mainstreaming youth rights in other forums of the HRC, as well as the importance of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism in youth rights advocacy.
She then provided examples of OHCHR efforts to work with youth, including the establishment of a Youth Advisory Group and global youth consultations as part of the Human Rights 75 Initiative. Based on input from young people around the world, the Youth Advisory Group worked with OHCHR to develop the Human Rights 75 Declaration, which highlights young people’s human rights priorities and recommends actions to be taken by States, the UN, and youth to address issues such as authoritarian governments, climate change, global inequality, and the misuse of new technologies. Griffiths also showed a video highlighting the human rights work of one of the Youth Advisory Group members, Maselina Iuta, in advocating for the rights of people with disabilities, in particular deaf people, in Samoa.
The presentation then transitioned to an explanation of the Youth Advocacy Toolkit, a resource developed by the OHCHR in conjunction with youth activists as part of the “Working with and for youth in vulnerable situations” project in order to bring awareness to youth rights and educate young people on ways to enact change. The Toolkit includes an introduction to the concept of human rights, focused sections that detail specific rights, explanations of how to use international human rights mechanisms to advocate for youth rights, and guidance on safety while advocating for youth rights.
The webinar concluded with a Q&A session in which participants could not only ask questions related to the presentations, but contribute their own thoughts as well. Griffiths opened the discussion portion of the event by asking the question, “What is the most effective way to make a difference for young people in their everyday lives, and how can I work with young people to realize such change?” Youth participants in the meeting underscored the importance of promoting diversity and inclusion; using education to advance youth rights; building solidarity and trust with and among youth activists; actively listening to young people and amplifying their voice; and fostering hope among young people and taking action to bring that hope into reality.
Overall, the webinar not only informed participants of OHCHR efforts to prioritize youth rights and work with young people, in particular through the creation and distribution of the Youth Rights Advocacy Toolkit, but also provided an opportunity to build connections across organizations and generations through productive discussion among participants.