Youth and Human Rights

A/HRC/RES/51/17View 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 2022.

What other versions does this mandate have?

5 versions · 2016–2024

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/57/30

2024A/HRC/RES/57/30Youth and human rightsLatestCompare with previous version
2022A/HRC/RES/51/17Youth and human rightsCompare with previous version
2019A/HRC/RES/41/13Youth and human rightsCompare with previous version
2017A/HRC/RES/35/14Youth and human rightsCompare with previous version
2016A/HRC/RES/32/1Youth and human rights

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Extracted automatically from each entity’s budget submission.

What subjects does this mandate have?

7 topics

Anti-Discrimination Measures Climate Change Conferences Decision-Making Digital Literacy Human Rights Youth

What does this mandate say?

18 operative paragraphs

Welcomes the work of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on youth, and recalls its report and its recommendations to strengthen the promotion and protection of the rights of young people;

Stresses the fundamental importance of equal opportunities, education, including digital literacy, and technical and vocational training, and that lifelong learning opportunities and guidance for youth are necessary for the realization of all human rights for young people;

Welcomes the decision of the General Assembly to convene a one-day high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly, at the level of Heads of State and Government and with the full and effective participation of youth, during the general debate of the eightieth session of the General Assembly, in 2025, to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond, with a view to addressing the challenges still faced by young people in the realization of their full potential and human rights;

Recognizes that the participation and representation of youth in institutional political processes and policymaking are 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;

Urges States, in consultation with youth-led and youth-focused organizations, to promote new initiatives for the full, effective, structured, sustainable and meaningful participation of young people in relevant decision-making processes and monitoring, in political, economic, social and cultural spheres, including in designing and implementing policies, programmes and initiatives, in particular, while implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

Calls upon all States to promote and to ensure the full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for youth, including by taking measures to combat age discrimination, neglect, abuse and violence, including sexual and gender-based violence, and to address issues relating to barriers to social integration and adequate participation, bearing in mind that the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms by young people empowers them to contribute as active members of society to the political, civil, economic, social and cultural development of their countries;

Urges States to promote equal opportunities for all, to eliminate all forms of discrimination against young people, including that based on age, race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status;

Calls upon all States to guarantee a safe and enabling environment for meaningful youth participation that fully respects the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the rights of freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in accordance with relevant and applicable international human rights instruments;

Also calls upon all States to take the steps necessary to ensure that the right of young people to freedom of expression and their safety are respected online, including by better educating them on the digital environment and by developing youth-friendly digital tools, as well as by protecting young people effectively against online threats;

Calls upon all States and other relevant stakeholders to develop initiatives on human rights education for youth, in accordance with the plan of action for the fourth phase of the World Programme for Human Rights Education, and to engage youth as key partners in those efforts;

Urges States to address the challenges faced by girls and young women, as well as gender stereotypes that perpetuate all forms of discrimination and violence against girls and young women, including harmful practices, both online and offline, and the stereotypical roles of women and men 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;

Encourages States to conduct their coherent youth-related policies through inclusive and participatory consultations with youth 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, as well as coherent cross-sectoral efforts, based on the World Programme of Action For Youth and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and in which human rights are mainstreamed, and to evaluate them regularly as part of the follow-up action on and implementation of the Programme of Action at all levels;

Urges States to consider addressing, through the universal periodic review and the treaty bodies, issues pertaining to the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights of youth, and to share the best practices that they have developed in dealing with the realization of the human rights of young people;

Encourages States, United Nations bodies, especially the Human Rights Council, and the Office of the High Commissioner, to collaborate broadly with the United Nations Youth Office and the Envoy of the Secretary-General on Youth in implementing the United Nations Youth Strategy and other youth-focused activities in order to guarantee the empowerment of young people and the full enjoyment of their human rights;

Decides to incorporate into its programme of work a biennial panel discussion, fully accessible to persons with disabilities, which will be held during the September session of the Council as of its fifty-fourth session, and requests the Office of the High Commissioner to organize the panel discussion following consultations with young people, youth and youth-led organizations and to prepare a summary report on the panel discussion for consideration at the subsequent session;

Also decides that the theme of the panel discussion to be held during the fifty-fourth session will be young people’s engagement with climate change and global environmental decision-making processes;

Requests the High Commissioner, in consultation with 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 the solutions to promote digital education for young people and to ensure their protection from online threats, and to submit the study to the Council for consideration prior to its fifty-seventh session;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

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