Youth and Human Rights

A/HRC/RES/63/8View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2026.

What other versions does this mandate have?

6 versions · 2016–2026

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2026	A/HRC/RES/63/8	Youth and human rights	2,760	—Compare
2024	A/HRC/RES/57/30	Youth and human rights	2,591	57%Compare
2022	A/HRC/RES/51/17	Youth and human rights	2,596	46%Compare
2019	A/HRC/RES/41/13	Youth and human rights	1,554	40%Compare
2017	A/HRC/RES/35/14	Youth and human rights	948	44%Compare

What subjects does this mandate have?

6 subjects

Anti-Discrimination Measures Decision-Making Human Rights Mental Health Standard of Living Youth

What’s in this document?

20 operative paragraphs

Welcomes the work of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on youth, and takes note with appreciation of its reports and those of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on strengthening the promotion and protection of the rights of young people;

⁹A/HRC/35/7, A/HRC/39/33, A/HRC/40/31, A/HRC/49/32, A/HRC/51/19, A/HRC/55/40, A/HRC/57/28 and A/HRC/61/34.

Stresses the fundamental importance of the full, effective and meaningful participation of young people in decision-making processes for the realization of all human rights for young people;

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 leadership and public decision-making positions and policymaking processes;

Urges States, in consultation with youth-led and youth-focused organizations, to promote new initiatives for the full, effective, sustainable, safe and meaningful 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 while implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

Calls upon all States to promote and ensure the full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for young people, including by taking measures to combat age discrimination, the exclusion of young persons with disabilities, neglect, abuse and violence, including sexual and gender-based violence, and to address issues relating to barriers to social integration and active, full, equal, meaningful and safe 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, disability, 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, both online and offline, for active, safe, inclusive and meaningful youth participation that fully respects the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, in accordance with relevant and applicable international human rights instruments;

Recognizes the opportunities presented by digital technologies, including artificial intelligence systems, for the protection, promotion and enjoyment of human rights by young people, and also recognizes that these technologies, without adequate safeguards, can entail serious risks for the protection, promotion and enjoyment of human rights, and calls upon States to ensure the enjoyment of all human rights by young people in the digital environment, consistent with international law, including by promoting transparency and accountability throughout the entire lifecycle of digital technologies, as well as young people’s digital and media literacy, equal access to digital technologies and full and meaningful participation in discussions on the governance of digital and artificial intelligence systems;

Calls upon all States to adopt approaches to mental health that are responsive to the needs of young people, including through the development of accessible, affordable, non-discriminatory and high-quality mental health and psychosocial support services that respect dignity and human rights of young people, with particular emphasis on prevention, early intervention, community-based support and continuity of care during transitions from childhood to adulthood;

Urges States to address the social and structural determinants that negatively affect the mental health of young people, including poverty, unemployment, a lack of an adequate standard of living (including housing and food insecurity), violence, discrimination, stigma, social exclusion and the adverse effects of global environmental challenges and crises, humanitarian emergencies, armed conflicts, including occupation, post-conflict situations and public health emergencies;

Calls for strengthened international cooperation and support for national efforts, particularly in developing countries, including through capacity-building, technical assistance and the mobilization of adequate resources, with a view to strengthening national capacities to develop and implement policies, programmes and services for the promotion and protection of the mental health and well-being of young people;

Calls upon all States and other relevant stakeholders to develop initiatives on human rights education for youth, taking into consideration, as appropriate, the relevant plans of action of the World Programme for Human Rights Education, and to engage youth as key partners in those efforts, in accordance with national priorities;

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 achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls, and to engage, educate, encourage and support men and boys to promote gender equality;

Also urges States to address the barriers faced by young persons with disabilities, including by ensuring access on an equal basis to productive employment and decent work, economic and financial resources and disability-inclusive infrastructure and services, in particular in relation to health and education, as well as by ensuring that their priorities and needs are fully incorporated into policies and programmes, through, inter alia, their participation in relevant decision-making processes, so that they are actively involved in all aspects of public, political, economic, cultural, social and family life, on an equal basis with all others;

Encourages States to conduct 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, 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 the 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 and United Nations bodies, especially the Human Rights Council and the Office of the High Commissioner, to collaborate broadly with the United Nations Youth Office, 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 that the theme of the next biennial panel discussion, to be held during the sixty-sixth session of the Human Rights Council, will be youth and the right to an adequate standard of living, with a particular focus on the systemic challenges and barriers faced by young people in accessing affordable housing, as well as building economic resilience and achieving economic independence during their transition to adulthood, and requests the Office of the High Commissioner to organize the panel discussion following consultations with youth and youth-led organizations;

Requests the Office of the High Commissioner, in consultation with States and relevant stakeholders, including relevant United Nations agencies, the United Nations Youth Office and the Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs, 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 youth and the right to an adequate standard of living, with a particular focus on the systemic challenges and barriers faced by young people in accessing affordable housing, as well as building economic resilience and achieving economic independence during their transition to adulthood, drawing also on the discussions and outcomes of the panel discussion to be held at the sixty-sixth session, and to submit the study to the Council for consideration prior to its sixty-ninth session;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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