Global Youth Delegates Demand Dignity, Freedom, and Justice for All at UN Human Rights Youth Summit

Human rights education and youth empowerment among the demands made by 60 youth delegates from 46 countries at Youth Summit at the United Nations in New York

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, July 19, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- With the Universal Declaration of Human Rights nearing its 75th anniversary December 10, youth delegates from around the world gathered at United Nations headquarters in New York July 6–7 determined to use the momentum of this anniversary to create a sea change on the state of human rights in the world. The 60 youth represented their countries as delegates to the 17th International Human Rights Summit organized by Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI).

Despite their diverse languages, these delegates spoke as a unified voice as they called on member states of the United Nations to make human rights a global reality. Their “Human Rights Youth Declaration” listed eight key areas of concern, among them climate change, conflict resolution and government–NGO collaboration. But key to creating this change was their focus on human rights education including their demand that human rights be integrated by all UN Member States into school curricula, higher education and teacher training.

In presenting their Youth Declaration, each delegate pledged to champion the principles of human rights and personally commit to “continued education, collaboration, and advocacy necessary to create a world where the rights of every individual, regardless of age, are respected, protected, and fulfilled.”

Timor-Leste President José Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace Laureate for 1996, welcomed the delegates in a filmed presentation, thanking them for their human rights advocacy and encouraging them to continue the vital work of achieving the goals of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Summit was hosted by the Permanent Mission of Timor-Leste to the United Nations and cosponsored by the Permanent Missions of Ireland, Albania, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Prominent Human rights leaders participating were:

* Ana Maria Upegui Cuartas, UN HR Advisor in Cosa Rica, Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights

* Ambassador Karlito Nunes, Permanent Representative of Timor-Leste to the UN

* Ambassador Ferit Hoxha, Permanent Representative of Albania to the UN

* Dr. Ira Helfand, founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility and immediate past president and founder of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize for 1985 and 2017

* Harold D’Souza, Cofounder and President of Eyes Open International, a nonprofit focused on combating human trafficking

* Jared Feuer, Chief Operating Officer Movement Forward, Inc.

* Monona Arevalo Zenarosa, retired Associate Justice of the Philippine Court of Appeals and chairperson of the Independent Commission Against Private Armies

* Haetham Abdul-Razaq, Ph.D, Assistant Professor, Northwest Vista College

* Fabio Amicarelli, Humanitarian Programs Director of the Church of Scientology International, which organized and cosponsored this and all 16 previous summits.

Panel discussions echoed the youth delegates’ Human Rights Youth Declaration emphasis on human rights education.

The first panel was “Educational Institutions and Human Rights Education,” with scholars and academics from Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, Thailand and the United States. “Human rights education is the right thing to do and the long-term solution to human rights violations and abuses our society faces today,” said Francis Tom Temprosa, Director of the Human Rights Education and Promotion Office of the Philippines Commission on Human Rights. Professor Bob Wichlinski of Valparaiso University moderated the panel and challenged the many human rights leaders in the audience to take on the task of institutionalizing human rights education.

“Legislation for Human Rights—The Costa Rica Model” was a panel featuring Costa Rica Deputy to the National Legislative Assembly (ret.) Jorge L. Fonseca, who described what was done to push through legislation in Costa Rica making human rights education compulsory in all the nation’s schools. State Congressman Luis Alberto Zamora Romero of Nayarit, a state in west-central Mexico, also spoke of his work to bring similar reforms to his country.

Youth delegates, chosen for their personal achievements in the field of human rights, made presentations of their projects, covering virtually all 30 articles of the UDHR.

More than 500 officials, academics, ambassadors and representatives of UN permanent missions, and NGO leaders attended. The event was also broadcast on the UN website where it was viewed by human rights activists, educators and members of Youth for Human Rights chapters in countries across the globe.

About Youth for Human Rights:

Youth for Human Rights International, founded in 2001, is a nonprofit organization with chapters around the world whose mission is to inspire youth to become advocates for equality and peace by educating them on the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. There are hundreds of groups internationally, many sponsored by Churches of Scientology. Scientology Churches and Scientologists are also the main sponsor of the initiative enabling Youth for Human Rights International to provide this secular program and its materials free of cost worldwide.

YHRI is used to raise awareness of human rights in classrooms and nontraditional educational settings and through enrolment on their free online human rights course.

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