Empowerment of the Young through Human Rights
Empowerment of the Young through Human Rights
Geneva (Switzerland ). The Office of Human Rights, IIMA (International Institute of Mary Help of Christians), and Vides International promoted and actuated on March 11, in the United Nations Building in Geneva, a Side Event entitled, ‘Empowerment of the Young through Human Rights’. The Side Event was organized together with the permanent mission of Uruguay. It was co-sponsored by 25 permanent missions in addition to the Human Rights High Commission.
The objective of the Side Event was to draw the attention of the various Countries to the empowerment of young people. It was precisely the young people who spoke, recounting how their diverse experiences as protagonists for change in the reality where they live, changed their life.
Tiago Luiz Queiroz Ferreira 29, from Brazil, Simon-Pierre Escudero 23, from France, Laura Catherine Barry 26, from the United States, and Johnny Buitrago Pais 25, from the indigenous community of Bribri Talamanca, Costa Rica are young people who spoke, moderated by the Ambassador from Uruguay, Laura Dupuy. They all have experience of volunteer work in their country and in other countries and they are all involved in work in favor of strengthening the resources of the young.
During the presentations,they recounted how the possibility to work with children in the field of educaion, of health, of prevention, and the defense of their own cultural origins made them grow in their awareness of the importance of youth protagonism and of the need to find space to express themselves and put their own potential to use.
In addition to the young people, two experts commented and left questions for the international community regarding the problematics expressed. Jorge Cardona, of the commisssion for the Agreement on Children’s Rights, and for the Iberian-American Region for the rights of young people, impelled by what had been heard, gave a report on what the differnt Counries of the world have done and what still can be done. Imma Guerras Delgado, of OHCHR, advisor for Children’s Rights at OHCHR, relaunched the importance of a reflection on how to insure that the various rights already sanctioned by the different Nations could be effectively implemented.
The time of debate was very interesting. Many representatives of the different Nations spoke (Austria, Italy, Marocco, Palestine, Burkina Faso, Maldives, Tunisia, Costa Rica, Paraguay, and Uraguay), showing their appreciation for the theme and for the presentations they heard. They accepted the invitation to place the Young at the center of interest in each country, in synergy with what was expressed by the United Nations Secretary, Ban Ki-mono, who chose the young as the priority for his second mandate.