The UN must amplify young people's voices and advance their rights, says High Commissioner Türk

Annual high-level panel discussion on human rights mainstreaming
A reflection on five years of the United Nations Youth Strategy (Youth 2030): mapping a blueprint for the next steps

Distinguished President of the Human Rights Council,
Excellencies, Colleagues, Friends, 

If one looks at countless surveys and interviews, the topics at the forefront of young people's concerns are climate change and human rights.

This demonstrates the power and relevance of human rights – which are after all the principles that ensure justice and fairness, and that lead to solutions to some of the greatest fears of our time.

It also indicates that taken as a whole, young people are deep-thinking and far-sighted – and that we would all do well to listen to, and take on board, their ideas.

So I especially welcome the young people who are with us here today and on screen. It is very important that we hear from you, that we listen to you as you strive for a better world.

The purpose of this discussion is to ensure that the UN system is working to amplify your voices and advance your rights – and that we are supporting you with the tools and capacities you need.

Mr President,

Five years ago, the United Nations Youth Strategy, Youth 2030, was adopted to step up efforts to work with and for young people throughout the UN.

To date, how far have we advanced the youth agenda – and what lessons can we learn from that as we move forward to 2030?

I welcome the establishment of the UN Youth Office, which was one of the recommendations of the Secretary-General's report, Our Common Agenda report and which was a call from young people themselves.

I am also glad that the inclusion of human rights as a priority area of the Youth Strategy has provided a clear framework for action -- with concrete benchmarks across all areas of human rights, development, peace and justice – including climate justice.

Listening to young people and working with them to secure their rights have become central to the way that my Office and other parts of the United Nations system work. The Step Up! campaign, launched by UN bodies in June 2021, promotes the rights of  young people and future generations to a healthy environment. My Office has also established OHCHR4YouthNetwork, including in Fiji, Guatemala, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon and Senegal, working on promoting and protecting young people's rights, and I have met some of the young people who have participated in this network. We also support young people with concrete tools that can assist them to stand up for their rights and engage with the UN.

Youth engagement will  be central to our Human Rights 75 Initiative. A Youth Advisory Group will help to guide all its activities and ensure that we take young people’s needs and recommendations on board throughout the year, and beyond. It is important to remember that those needs and recommendations will be diverse – as diverse as young people themselves. We need to engage with young people of every ethnicity and from every income and educational background, of every political opinion, sexual orientation or other distinction.  

Despite all our progress, some institutions continue to engage with young people in a superficial, almost tokenistic way. They may have formal structures that acknowledge the importance of young people's views, but they are unlikely to seek out voices that are diverse or unfamiliar – and even less likely to act on what they say.

And more broadly, even though overall young people have never been more educated or more connected, they continue to face significant obstacles to achieving their full potential  – as well as discrimination that blocks their access to many human rights.

Restrictions on healthcare, including in relation to sexual and reproductive health and rights. Inadequate labour rights and discrimination in access to decent work, including for young women. Undue limits to conscientious objection to military service. These are difficulties met by young people simply by virtue of being young. Young women; LGBTIQ+ young people; young migrants, youth with disabilities, and those in conflict with the law face multiple and additional challenges.

In many countries, severe restrictions on civic freedoms also alienate young people from the structures that are supposed to represent them. Many young people have a lack of trust in the ability of existing institutions and leadership to meet their concerns. Protests by young people often express their frustrations with these undue obstacles. I think we have seen this over the recent year or so when young people have been at the forefront of many protests.

I also want to emphasise many young people’s worry, and even despair, about the future of our world. Climate change and environmental damage darken their horizons and may sharply constrict their future. It is absolutely essential that young people be given the space to voice these concerns and to lead and participate in shared work to address them.

By fully implementing Youth 2030, we can ensure that this space is opened up; we can ensure that pervasive discrimination is countered; and that our people and societies are able to realise their full potential.  

My Office will continue to mainstream youth rights, and to assist Member States to realise these rights in laws, policies, and programmes.

We know that young people all over the world are the drivers of social change, the spirit of resilience, the genius of innovation, and the strongest seekers of solutions for the future of humanity.

But they also have rights today, and a great deal remains to be done to realize them.  

I look forward to this discussion.

Thank you