Human Rights Implications of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Young People

A/HRC/RES/48/12View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2021.

What subjects does this mandate have?

7 topics

Covid-19 Discrimination Gender Equality Human Rights Pandemics Popular Participation Youth

What does this mandate say?

13 operative paragraphs

Welcomes the work of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on youth, and takes note of the report of the High Commissioner and the recommendations therein on strengthening the promotion and protection of the rights of young people;

Also welcomes the holding of the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth and Youth Forum Lisbon+21, in Lisbon on 22 and 23 June 2019, and notes with appreciation its Declaration on Youth Policies and Programmes, especially with regard to empowering young people and their representatives, the commitment to protect, respect and fulfil the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all young people, protecting the most disadvantaged and those in vulnerable situations and contributing to the creation of indicators to assess the impact of youth policies and programmes;

Calls upon States to ensure that all human rights are respected, protected and fulfilled while combating the COVID-19 pandemic, and that their responses to the pandemic are in full compliance with their human rights obligations and commitments;

Stresses the fundamental importance of equal opportunities, 12 years of quality education and technical and vocational training, and the importance of continuous learning opportunities and guidance for young people and adolescents, including girls, for the enjoyment of all human rights by all young people, equal access for girls to quality education, and of eliminating discriminatory laws and practices that prevent them from having access to, completing and continuing their education, including the transition from primary to secondary education;

Also stresses the need to address all forms of discrimination, which place women and girls at greater risk of exploitation, violence and abuse, and to implement measures to prevent and eliminate stereotypes based on disability, gender, age, race and xenophobia, ableism, stigma, negative social norms, attitudes and behaviours that cause or perpetuate discrimination and violence against women and girls;

Urges States to address the challenges that girls and young women face, as well as gender stereotypes that perpetuate all forms of discrimination and violence against girls and young women, including harmful practices, and the stereotypical roles of men and women that hinder social development, by reaffirming the commitment to the empowerment of women and gender equality and the human rights of all women and girls, and to engage, educate, encourage and support men and boys to take responsibility for their behaviour in this regard, including their sexual and reproductive behaviour;

Recognizes that the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures to combat its spread have exacerbated existing challenges of young people, in particular young women and girls, in exercising their human rights, including challenges in access to decent work and quality employment, social protection, quality education and health-care services, that the full and meaningful participation, leadership and representation of young people in relevant institutional processes and policymaking remain low compared with those of other age groups, and that young people are not proportionately represented in political institutions, such as parliaments, political parties and public administrations, and also recognizes the important role played by youth-led organizations in giving young people a voice;

Encourages all States to recognize and support young people’s potential to advance the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, and in this regard encourages States to conduct their coherent youth-related policies through inclusive and participatory consultations with youth organizations and relevant youth-led and youth-focused stakeholders and social development partners, in the interest of developing integrated, holistic and inclusive youth policies and programmes, and to promote new initiatives for the full, effective, structured and sustainable participation of young people in relevant decision-making processes and monitoring in the political, economic, social and cultural spheres, including in designing and implementing policies, programmes and initiatives, in particular those for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

Calls upon all States to partner, safely and effectively, with young people, during and after the pandemic, to understand further the specific impact that the pandemic has had and will have on young people, especially girls, while ensuring that COVID-19 response efforts are carried out in a manner that respects the enjoyment of human rights by young people and are inclusive of young people’s specific needs;

Urges States to address, through the United Nations human rights mechanisms, issues pertaining to the enjoyment by young people of their human rights, and to share the best practices that they have developed in enabling young people to exercise their human rights during and after the pandemic;

Encourages States, United Nations bodies, especially mechanisms of the Human Rights Council, and the Office of the High Commissioner, to collaborate broadly with the Envoy of the Secretary-General on Youth in finding solutions to mitigate the impact of the pandemic and any other relevant barriers for the accelerated implementation of the United Nations Youth Strategy and the World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond;

Requests the High Commissioner, in consultation with and taking into account the views of States and relevant stakeholders, including relevant United Nations agencies, the treaty bodies, the special procedures of the Human Rights Council, national human rights institutions, civil society and representatives of youth organizations, to conduct a detailed study on ways to mitigate the impact of the global pandemic on human rights with regard to young people, including the identification of cases of discrimination against young people in the exercise of their human rights, in particular young women and girls, highlighting the contribution of young people to the realization of human rights in society during the pandemic, and to submit the study to the Council for consideration at its fifty-first session;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

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