Youth Final Declaration and Programme od Action
UNITED TO COMBAT RACISM: A YOUTH VISION!
INTERNATIONAL YOUTH SUMMIT STATEMENT
Final Declaration and Plan of Action
August 26th ~ September 8th 2001
DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA
Organization of the Youth Statement:
The International Youth Committee and the South African Youth Task Team with the support of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights held its first two working sessions in Geneva during the Preparatory Committees of the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance; both members held approximately 20 meetings during both sessions.
The final version of the International Youth Summit was drafted by an international drafting team composed of 40 representatives from the four regions of the world, a secretariat composed by members of the International Youth Committee and the South African Youth Task Team during a period of 10 days in the context of the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Durban, South Africa August 26th to September 9th 2001.
Attendance:
The session was attended by representatives of the following UN regions, observers, and United Nations bodies, other entities, and youth representatives from the:
International Youth
Committee
South African Youth Task Team ~ Youth Secretariat
United Nations Bodies ~ UNHCHR
Youth Representatives 750 from all four regions of the world
Organization of work:
As a concrete result both committees approved:
(a). The number of representatives from each region of the world, therefore, ensuring a broad perspective in the preparations of the International Youth Summit and during its realization.
(b). To continue all discussions through an internal list-serve that was created, IntYouthCmt@yahoogroups.com, ensuring an accurate mechanism for communication.
(c). A Youth Summit Program was developed and made available for commentaries from all youth representatives present during the third session; as well as a framework and proposed operational work plan for the development of the International Summit Statement. Program and agenda that was agree upon during the opening of the Youth Summit.
Declaration:
The Youth Declaration was developed based on the statements from the regional preparatory meetings and the different position papers. A Youth Compilation of all Youth Declarations was developed and made available. The Declaration has a maximum of 35 pages and the original (for al legal purposes or any reference to specific use of terminology) to be done in English.
Plan of Action:
The committee on its first session agreed to develop a Plan of Action composed of 11 chapters: Education & Employment; Health; Environment; Justice (Legal Measures); Poverty & Economy (Globalization); Media & New Information Technology (Internet); Minority Rights; Multiple Forms of Discrimination (Intersection & Young Women); Human Rights and Citizenship; Colonialism and Foreign Occupation and New Forms of Apartheid.
All Chapters were drafted in conjunction with members who were coordinating or co-facilitating the Thematic Working Groups during the Youth Summit; and with a maximum number of 25 pages. The final version is to be prepared in English and then translated into Spanish and French and any other language at the regional or national levels.
The work done in the thematic working groups during the Youth Summit also contributed with concrete proposals to the development of the chapters of the POA and its further enhancement. Each chapter includes the describe victims lists in the framework of the Youth Statement, three levels of commitments, the State Actors, the Non State Actors, and Youth at the International, Regional, National and Local level with very concrete actions and proposals. Responding at the same time to the objectives of the Youth Summit.
Final Version to be made available September 4, 2001.
Annexes:
The International Youth Statement contains appendixes of positions documents, result of regional youth conferences, youth caucus consultations, issue specific declarations, groups specific declarations and key background documentation.
Language:
The original and last version is to be provided in three different languages. English, Spanish and French.
The IYC and the YTT will be the team to assure the translation of the draft documents, but noting that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has agree to provide the translation of the last version of the Youth Summit statement and to contribute to its promotion during the NGO Forum and World Conference.
CONTENTS OF THE
YOUTH STATEMENT
PART ONE:
International Youth Summit Declaration
PART TWO:
International Youth Summit Plan of Action
- Mission Statement
- Global Framework
- Chapters of the Plan of Action
Education and Employment
Health
Environment
Justice (Legal
Measures)
Poverty and the
Economy Including Globalization
Media, New Information
Technologies including the Internet
Minority Rights
Multiple forms
of Discrimination and Intersectionality specifically addressing Young Women.
Human Rights and
Citizenship
Colonialism and
Foreign Occupation, including New forms of Apartheid
Slavery, Slave
Trade Including Compensation and Reparations
- Global View on Youth Commitment “ Moving Forward”
PART THREE:
Closing Remarks
YOUTH SUMMIT DECLARATION
Preamble:
We the young people of Africa, Asia-Pacific, Americas and Europe, having met in Durban, South Africa from the 26th to the 27th of August 2001, within the framework of the United Nations World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance;
Expressing our deep appreciation to the South African Civil Society, the South African National Non Governmental Organization Coalition (SANGOCO), and the South African Youth Task Team for hosting the International Youth Summit;
Further Expressing our gratitude for the support and efforts made by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the International Youth Committee to realize the Youth Summit;
Acknowledging the work of the United Nations Members States and Observer Countries in contributing to the process of raising awareness about the needs and hearing the voices of young people from around the world in the context of the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance;
Taking into account the outcomes of the various regional youth consultations organized at Coventry (United Kingdom), Santiago (Chile), Malaka (Malaysia), Kigali (Rwanda) and other contributions from youth organizations, Indigenous Peoples and African and African Descendant youth organizations, Non Governmental organizations, and human rights practitioners; organized in the framework of the preparation of the world conference;
Noting the contribution made by the International Youth Caucus and other regional youth caucus formed in Tehran (Iran), Dakar (Senegal), Santiago (Chile), and Strasbourg (France) to promote and provide a space for the full participation and involvement of youth in the process of the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance;
Emphasizing the key role that young people around the world play in the struggle to eradicate racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, through inter alia community and national based programs and projects;
Considering that youth, particularly young Indigenous Peoples, African descendants, Roma People, Dalits and people of oppressed communities and ethnic groups within their States, have been discriminated against, excluded from, and marginalized in the decision-making processes at all levels and resulting in limiting their full and active political, economical, social and cultural participation;
Recognizing the existence of multiple forms of discrimination, based on race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, caste, ethnic and national origin, nationality, class, age, religion, colour, languages, social–economic and other status that affect young people in a particular way;
Noting that youth representation has traditionally been marginalized by Governments and Non Governmental Organizations, Inter Governmental Organizations or Agencies, in international events and regional conferences, thereby, denying their participation in decision-making processes;
Realizing that there is a lack of resources to ensure equitable geographical participation of young people in an effort to promote diversity of young leaders from all parts of the world in the international human rights movement; we hereby have prioritized the preparation and participation of the youth in the International Youth Summit from countries from the South including representatives of migrants, immigrants, refugees, displaced youth, African descendants, Indigenous Peoples youth, Roma people, Dalits, youth living in occupied territories, and young women from the women’s movement, young people from the most disadvantaged sectors in their societies;
Recognizing that access to adequate and affordable health care is a fundamental human right for all people, we acknowledge that contributing factors to discriminatory health practices and services such as: ethnicity, age, language, disability, sexuality, gender, socio-economic background, religion, geographic distance, must be addressed in consultation with affected community leaders and young people;
We hereby, in a spirit of friendship, peace, solidarity and harmony join together and call upon all young people, States and their Governments and Non State Actors to fully commit themselves to the implementation of the understated Plan of Action to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance all over the world, and hereby adopt the Durban Youth Declaration and Plan of Action: United to Combat Racism - A Youth Vision!
General Issues:
Having considered the dreadful effects of multiple forms of discrimination often afflicting young people pertaining to the most disadvantaged groups in the society, particularly those of Indigenous Peoples, Africans and People of African descent, Roma people, and other minorities, as well as people living under conditions of caste system, foreign occupation, colonialism, as well as refugees, migrants and displaced persons, or any disability, or other grounds based on their identity, such as sexual orientation, religion, language, ethnic and/or national origin, culture, colour, class, and race and their gender;
Reasserting the views and role of young people as actors of change and promoters of Human Rights and democratic values in the Third Millennium;
Acclaiming the richness and diversity among the peoples of the world and stressing that we all belong to one human race, we acknowledge the positive contribution of youth in upholding this rich diversities through the promotion of respect, solidarity, and justice for and of others from different cultures, religions, gender, ethnic and national origin, colour, languages, class, social and economic backgrounds;
Themes:
Sources, Causes, Forms and Contemporary Manifestations of
Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance.
We recognize and affirm that slavery, the slave trade and other forms of servitude, conquest and colonialism represents the primary sources and causes of contemporary manifestation of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and we firmly condemn the injustices that were committed through these practices, and we therefore, stress the need for all Governments, and non state actors engaged in such historical practices to acknowledge the grave human tragedies they caused and the heinous racist acts consequently experienced by youths all over the world;
We repudiate the brutal crimes and injustices that were committed and continue to be perpetuated against Indigenous Peoples, Africans and People of African descent, Asians and people of Asian descent, Roma people, religious minorities, women, victims of war, children, caste and other groups who were subjected to slavery and other forms of servitude that represents at all times a grave violation of human rights and a crime against humanity, paying particular attention to the violation of human rights during the transatlantic slave trade committed against Africans and people of African descent and Indigenous Peoples;
We affirm that colonialism historical and current, and present-day foreign occupation are primary causes of human rights violations also affecting children, adolescents and youth and have severe negative consequences on their lives;
We recognize and deplore institutional forms of racism, perpetuated by State Institutions such as Immigration departments, Justice Systems, Police, Social Services, Health Services, Education and Employment companies, the effects of which are reinforced by the stereotypes and prejudices promoted by the media, including the Internet and other forms of new information technologies, principally affecting young people, particularly young women of different ethnic and national origin, those under caste system, foreign occupation or in colonies as well as migrants, refugees, displaced persons, people with disabilities, particularly African and People of African descents, Indigenous Peoples, Roma people, Dalits and other minorities;
We strongly affirm that racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in our current educational systems, represent serious threat to the eradication of those scientifically false ideologies and practices of racial supremacy which further reinforces the perpetuation of stereotypes that affect particularly children and youth, especially young women from the most marginalized sectors of the society;
We note with great concern that the lack of proper legislation and efficient monitoring mechanisms on discrimination often tend to reproduce the sources of contemporary forms or manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance;
We recognize that the disparities between the rich and the poor are increasing, poverty and particularly the feminization of poverty affects young people and constitutes a main cause and source of the continuation of racist prejudices and attitudes which are further compounded by the policies of globalization, neo-liberalism, foreign occupation, slavery and the slave trade.
We acknowledge that HIV / AIDS is a global youth concern affecting more than half of all newly HIV infections among youth aged 15 – 20 years old. Youth currently represents 1/ 6 of the world’s population, and HIV / AIDS constitutes a contemporary manifestation of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance;
We affirm that colonialist countries must be declared responsible for the poverty and continued marginalization and underdevelopment of Africa and other colonized countries and economies and their direct or indirect involvement in the exploitation and pillage of their natural resources.
We further affirm that the impoverishment of Africa and other third world countries and colonized territories has been further exacerbated by the discriminatory liberal economic policies mandated by international financial institutions, such as structural adjustment programs;
Victims of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance
In the context of the International Youth Statement, the term “racial discrimination” means any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin, religion, caste, citizenship status, culture, language, class, which has the purpose of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment, guarantee or exercise on an equal footing of Human Rights, and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, cultural or any other field of public and private life.
Further noting that the term “racial discrimination” should include distinction, exclusion, restriction or non preference of Indigenous Peoples youth, young people of African descent, minorities, Roma people, Dalits, refugees, migrants, displaced people, people living under occupation, people with disabilities, and others.
We recognize and salute the memory of young people all over the world who are and had been victims of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance;
We acknowledge that racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in most countries, target youth due to their race or origin, as Africans and People of African descent, Asian and people of Asian descent, Indigenous Peoples, minorities, Roma people, Dalit people, refugees, migrants, displaced, people living under foreign occupation, caste system, and people with disabilities;
We affirm that young people suffering from HIV/AIDS and other diseases in developing countries, due to poverty in many cases can not afford to get or buy medication because of profit motivated policies established by multinational pharmaceutical companies and therefore, they continue being victims of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance;
We note with great concern, the rise of racist – intolerant, xenophobic, discriminatory acts against migrants, displaced persons, asylum seekers, refugees, particularly focusing on young women and children;
We note that certain immigration policies, practices and regulations are xenophobic, racist, homophobic and therefore, reinforces the negative images portrayed by states which perpetuates a lack of mobility of young people and also prevent them from enjoying their full human rights with particular respect to the right to education, health and employment;
We observe a continuing discrimination against youths of African descent, Indigenous Peoples, Roma people, Dalit, and Africans with regard to their full enjoyment of their human rights, including the right to fully incorporate the oral history of their ancestors in the educational curriculum of the states where they reside and to recognize the lack of this information in the current system, as well as their right to land and culturally appropriate services;
We recognize that Indigenous Peoples, Africans, people of African descent, Roma people, Dalits and other ethnic groups have been victims of discrimination for centuries, therefore, we re affirm their freedoms and equality as human beings who should not be subjected to discriminatory practices, colonization, and genocide on the basis of their origin and identity;
We repudiate the systematic and continuous racial discrimination faced by Indigenous Peoples because of their origin and identity, the African People and African descent who faced centuries and continue suffering slavery, systematic social and economic exclusion; the Roma people who have suffered slavery, forced assimilation, “Porajmos” in the Holocaust; Dalits who suffer systematic human rights violations in the form of caste discrimination based on work and descent and “untouchability”; and for all these groups for the social exclusion and marginalization resulting in high levels of poverty and unemployment;
We identify that Indigenous Peoples, African descent, Roma people are living in conditions of extreme poverty, especially in the Latin American and Caribbean;
We recognize the lack of access to basic human rights, including quality education, health services, employment, housing and others which have the potential of exposing young persons, in particular, those of African descent to criminalized social conditions and delinquency, with the risk of being unjustly imprisoned and abused by law enforcing institutions;
We recognize that people who had been displaced, people that are refugees around the world are in many occasions forced out of their lands, territories or countries of origin due to ethnic conflicts, poverty, colonialism, foreign occupation, religious incarceration, hate speech and other human rights violations specifically targeted to displaced youth. Noting that as a result of such misguided practices, displaced youth are being deprived of their fundamental human rights as human beings;
We reaffirm the rights of asylum seekers to gain access to basic human rights during their displacement with access to economic and social benefits rightfully accorded to citizens of the host country. We believe that special attention should be given to children and youth in order to protect them against the violation of their rights as refugees in refugee camps and detention centers;
We repudiate the systematic and continuous discrimination faced by the Dalits, and others significant groups in the world population (260 millions in South Asia). Dalit people have been subjected to discrimination based on their work, descent, caste system for a long period, and as a result are suffering from humiliation base on various forms of castism and untouchability and gross violation of their human rights in India and in many other countries in the Asian region;
We recognize that colonialism and foreign occupation constitutes institutionalized racial discrimination and we, therefore, reassert the right of people living under foreign occupation to defend their human rights by any means under international law. Recognizing that the continued subjugation of Palestinians, including grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention, constitutes a new form of apartheid. Recognizing that the people of Tibet continue to suffer institutionalized forms of discrimination under the Chinese regime;
Expressing our solidarity with the people of Palestine, Southern Sudan, Swaziland, and other regions and countries that continue to suffer economic marginalization and poverty due to their struggle against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, caste and related intolerance. We express our solidarity with the Saharoui populations and we support the solutions adopted by the United Nations in order to provide a political resolution to this problem;
We express our solidarity with the people of Cuba and demand that the economic blockade by the United States be lifted, since it constitutes a violation of the human right to self-determination and national sovereignty;
We recognize that discrimination on the basis of disability is a fundamental violation of human rights. We reassert the rights of the people with disabilities to enjoy their full human rights within the states;
Measures of Prevention, Education, and Protection aimed at the Eradication of
Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance at the
National, Regional and International Level.
We demand the universal adherence to and the full implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination as a paramount of great importance for the promotion of equality and non-discrimination in the world;
We demand that States should adhere to the democratic principles and ensure transparency and accountable governance as a practice by all governments with the ultimate objective of upholding their own constitutional principles and international treaty obligations and work towards the full enforcement of rights by all people regardless of their origin, culture, race, social class, caste, colour, ethnic origin, language, religion and sexual orientation or because they are Indigenous Peoples, African and People of African descents, Roma people, Dalits and any other groups that is in a disadvantage position;
We emphasize the importance of dialogue led by youth among cultures and civilizations as it emerges as an intrinsic demand for human nature itself, as well as of culture. Dialogue leads to a recognition of diversity and opens the mind for mutual acceptance and genuine national, regional and international collaboration and solidarity by all people. Dialogue remains the cornerstone to eradicate all forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance;
We demand and recognize that quality education, elimination of illiteracy and access to free intercultural education for all promotes more inclusive societies, equity and harmonious relations and friendship between young people of all nations to build a culture of peace, fostering mutual understanding, solidarity, social justice and respect of human rights for all. We demand that dialogue must include the reintroduction of the languages of Indigenous Peoples around the world which have been lost through colonization, along with the languages of the disabled and not include any references that are discriminatory, racist, or exclusionary;
We call for the development and implementation of progressive legislation aimed curtailing racism, racist motivated attacks, xenophobia and related intolerance on the basis of culture, race, class, colour, national origin, ethnic origin, language, religion and sexual orientation;
Provision of Effective
Remedies, Recourse, Redress, Compensatory
and other Measures at the National, Regional, and International Levels.
We recognize that massive institutionalized human rights violations through the acts of slavery, slave trade, colonialisms, caste system, apartheid and new forms of apartheid in the occupied territories of the Palestinians requires unreserved apologies from historical and current perpetrators to the victims and theirs descendants;
We acknowledge that slavery, slave trade, foreign occupation and colonialism had and continue to have a lasting effect on the socio-economic, physical, psychological, emotional and political status of the victims;
We therefore demand that perpetrator nations mainly in the north, involved in slavery, slave trade, foreign occupation and colonialism formerly apologies to victims and descendents with a just and fair compensation and reparations such as the immediate withdrawal from the occupied territories, the right of return to peoples own land, social development programs, cancellation of the foreign debt and any other form of reparations considered appropriate by victims;
Strategies to Achieve Full and Effective Equality Including International Cooperation and Enhancement of the United Nations and other International Mechanisms in Combating Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, and Follow-Up.
We recognize the importance of the role youth play within civil society to cooperate at all levels, from the national, regional and the international level in the struggle to eradicate racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance;
We recognize the important role of youth to develop and implement national, regional and international networks across and beyond the boundaries of race, origin, gender, culture, sexual orientation, class, caste, religion, language, ethnic origin and colour in an endeavor to engage youth at all levels as torchbearers in the struggle to combat all forms of discrimination within the context of all internally agreed upon United Nations instruments and any other regional instrument of particular relevance to youth in their own regions;
We call for the creation and operation of an International Youth Network financially supported by the United Nations Members States, NGOs, Regional Structures and civil society that is composed of youth representatives from all over the world. The Network will be based in community and trans-regional activities and projects that will work to eliminate racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance;
We believe that States, the United Nations and major International organizations can play an important role in ensuring respect to the effective implementation of all the International instruments aimed at eradicating racism, xenophobia and other related intolerance; and to promote networks that work in it;
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We resolve to affirm our dedication to address the constraints and obstacles and thus enhancing further advancement and empowerment of all youth over the world, and agree that this requires urgent action in the spirit of determination, hope, cooperation and solidarity, now and to carry us forward into the next century.
We affirm our commitment to young people, to struggle for their rights, to focus on their development and to be determine to live in the society of today and look into the society of tomorrow, to recall that we the young people are “subjects to our own rights” and hereby adopt the Declaration of the International Youth Summit because: United to Combat Racism ~ with a Youth Vision! Can come to a true realization;
YOUTH SUMMIT PLAN
OF ACTION
Mission Statement:
The Plan of Action of the International Youth Summit is a practical oriented agenda for youth empowerment. It aims to accelerates the implementation of the United Nations Charter with particular attention to the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), The Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court of Justice, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (MWC), the 169 ILO Convention on the Rights of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, and other relevant international and regional international instruments.
The aim is therefore, to ensure youth participation in all spheres of public and private life, through a full and equal share by women and men in economic, social, cultural and political decision – making.
This means that the principle of shared power and responsibility should be established between women and men at home, in the workplace and in the wider national and international communities.
A transformed partnership based on equality between women and men is a condition for people-centred sustainable development, people of Africa, Roma people, African descents, Indigenous Peoples, and other minorities, particularly people living under conditions of occupation, colonialism, with the status of refugees, displaced, migrants, and because of their caste, their work and descents, the disability and other facets of their various identities.
The Plan of Action of the International Youth Summit reaffirms the fundamental principle set forth in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights, that the human rights of youth and particularly young women and the girl child are inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights. As an agenda for action, the Plan of Action seeks to promote and protect the rights of all young people, and their fundamental freedoms.
The success of the Plan of Action requires a strong and firm commitment on the part of State Actors, Non state actor and youth that are at all different levels to implement the demands, but it requires the allocation of adequate funding, resources to youth organizations, to non governmental, and other relevant bodies, as well as the adequate mobilization at the national and international level around the issues of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
Global Framework:
The International Youth Summit is taking place in the context of the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance and the NGO Forum looking into practical action oriented mechanism at all levels to combat Racism ~ with A Youth Vision!
The Plan of Action upholds the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Conventions of the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), and proposes to builds upon the Compilation of All Youth declarations from the regions, and countries, as well as all relevant resolutions adopted by the Commission on Human Rights and other UN Specialized Agencies. The formulation of the Plan of Action is aimed at establishing and giving priority to actions that should be taken to promote, protect and implements the rights of youth and children rights.
The Plan of Action recognizes the importance of all regional documents and position papers and the agreements reached at the World Summit for Children, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the World Conference on Human Rights, the International Conference on Population and Development and the World Summit for Social Development, the World Conference on Women, as well as the Decades to eradicate Racism and Racial Discrimination which has been launched by the Secretary General, the International Decade for the World’s Indigenous Peoples are processes which have also emphasized the issues of youth, their development and their rights in the context of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
The objective of the Plan of Action that is in full conformity with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and international law, is the empowerment and development of youth from all over the world.
Chapters of the Plan of Action:
Chapter 1. EDUCATION
& EMPLOYMENT
Actions to be taken:
By State Actors ~ Governments:
Revise and change the curricula and the education systems so that they are adequately resourced and respond to the needs of the community. It must address the legacies and impacts of colonization, slavery, racism, caste systems, foreign occupation, religious persecution and migration.
Education systems must recognize and value Indigenous Peoples, people of African descent, Africans, Roma people, Dalits and other discriminated against groups’ knowledge and ways of learning and provide education in peoples’ own language.
All educators need to proportionally represent the racial communities that they serve.
All youth should have equal access and a curriculum related to experiences and perspectives they live and experience.
Anti-racism curricula should be introduced in early childhood education.
Antiracism and intercultural training within an anti oppression framework must be mandatory for all educators and staff including officers in positions of power and the authority, in educational institutions as a pre requisite to employment and as on going-process.
A comprehensive public awareness campaign that debunks myths around and positively portrays, immigrants, refugees, Indigenous Peoples, people of African Descent, Dalits, Roma people, and any other disadvantage group in the society need to be put in place.
Non-formal educational sectors must recognize and value the ways of learning and knowledge of Indigenous Peoples, Roma People, Dalits, Africans and people of African descent and include these people in the design, development, implementation and provision of education in their own language to support the full development of young people towards a positive self image and awareness of their identity.
Governments should combat all forms of segregation in educational institutions.
States must provide the necessary professional orientation that answers to the needs of the labor market. Also encourage the exchange of methodologies between formal and educational institutions and the non-formal educational sector.
Governments should provide young people with space to come together to engage in an open dialogue without exclusion, interference or intimidation for and by young people providing everyone with opportunities to appreciate diversity as a gift
Governments should include young people in the decision-making processes and bodies of curricula reform and exchange programs.
By Non State Actors:
Multilateral Financial and development Institutions, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and regional development institutions, and by any development cooperation:
Provide and support mechanism for all youth to have access to free and quality education.
Provide equal access, through the public sector, to technology, specifically access to the Internet and corresponding training to use it effectively
Provide financial assistance for programs which will lead to the training of future leaders, to provide cultural exchange programs and opportunities for affordable overseas studies which will provide young people with exposure to other cultures and thus increase the levels of respect for other peoples.
To recognize the importance of vocational development as a means to providing people with the skills to have access to better jobs and at higher levels.
To promote and allocate the resources for constant “sensitivity training” (knowing others by knowing yourself) towards respect among educators and leaders in the educational field as well as in exchange programs.
By National and International Non-Governmental organizations and religious institutions, civil society organization, and political parties, United Nations Specialized Agencies, and development organizations:
Provide professional and institutional support for migrant youth and oppressed nationalities and ethnicities within a state to deal with the trauma that can restrict their access to learning.
In respect to the lack of education of young people on the true history of the world, consult with UNESCO in order to rewrite educational texts to include the histories of traditionally oppressed peoples of the world.
Develop a sustainable far-reaching anti-racism educational campaign that is implemented and facilitated at a communal level.
Promote non-violent and peace methods of conflict resolution in the education system in order to promote respect, understanding and a culture of peace.
Urge all boards of education in the respective countries to include representation from all ethnic and cultural groups in order to promote racial and intercultural harmony.
Chapter 2. HEALTH
Actions to be taken:
By State Actors ~ Governments:
Health is a fundamental human right. Governments should provide free universal healthcare acknowledging the needs and ensuring equitable access of young people from ethnic, religious, and racial minorities, refugees, Roma people, people of African descent, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders youth, youth with disabilities, Indigenous youth, and young women regardless of health problems they face.
To protect, promote and respect the reproductive and sexual rights of young people.
States need to reform and adopt a community development approach to their health systems on all levels, to bring specific attention to areas of mental health, while, at the same time, they continue to maintain a primary focus on preventive medicine and traditional medicine with an emphasis on attention towards young people and building a relationships with their communities.
Youth should have healthcare regarding distribution access of free condoms, preventive measures, education, support, and treatment of HIV / AIDS as well as other infections and sexually transmitted infections. We call upon developed countries to contribute 10.00 billions dollars to the global Health Fund. Pharmaceutical companies should reduce prices on retroviral drugs and other products of daily demand in developing countries.
To translate all health information material and educational material into all used languages in the country. Provide training and mentoring to youth participants to assist in their effective participation and empowerment in the field of health.
To respect and promote traditional health system, always bearing in mind the basic healthy standards of all patients. Health programs should be holistic, integrated ensuring the inclusion of traditional medicine, practices and developed in consultation with relevant communities.
Ensure that there is a better representation of marginalized groups in all levels of decision- making in the public health system.
Given the detrimental impacts of invasion, colonization, displacement, environmental degradation on the cultural identity, physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health well being of Indigenous Peoples. Legislation ensuring self determination equitable legislation access full rights of Indigenous Peoples, African descents, Africans, Roma, Dalits and other ethnic groups to their traditional lands fishing and hunting sights, this should be implemented and monitored.
Health services should employ experienced intercultural (bilingual) staff and interpreters with specialized knowledge of the culture they work with and in, understanding of the country, and consultative skills. Cross-cultural training should be compulsory and ongoing to ensure staff are culturally competent and have the ability to interact with and be accepted by clients from culturally diverse groups.
Research and resources into youth suicide and mental health problems and development prevention programs should be increased. Programs should be peer-lead, driven and developed in consultation with young people that belong to historical excluded groups, culturally and linguistically diverse people, refugees, Roma, religious minorities, gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people.
States should create and enforce laws and penalties against multi-national pharmaceutical companies that export inferior, harmful, and faulty drugs to developing countries for experiments and profits that should include protection from malpractice, discrimination, and negligence in the health system. Young people should be provided with adequate health care, especially counseling, information on drug and alcohol abuse
Increased funding, resources support to crisis outreach services for young people at risk, including long term accommodation, drops in centers, counseling, training, preventive programs that adopt a community development approach.
By Non-State Actors:
By National and International Non-Governmental organizations and religious institutions, civil society organization, and political parties and United Nations specialized Agencies and development organizations:
To implement grass roots health programs and to provide the support and resources for the ones that are already in place.
To institute independent reviews on sexual and reproductive rights.
Emphasis should be placed on integrity of the family whenever possible. Moreover, single parents should be provided with a wide range of services to assist them in caring for their children.
Acknowledging that HIV / AIDS is a global issue where more than half of all newly HIV infections taking is among youth. Youth currently represents 1/6 of the world population and should be paid to the plight of HIV/AIDS in orphans. In this respect, care models need to be introduced to empower caretakers of HIV/AIDS orphans.
In and effect to curb the transmission of HIV/AIDS in children, pre and post-natal medications must be made readily available to all.
Chapter 3. ENVIRONMENT
Actions to be taken:
By State Actors ~ Governments:
We deplore the widespread environmental degradation of the land and river sources as well as its impact on Indigenous Peoples and other vulnerable, disadvantaged or marginalized groups. We call for immediate action to protect the environment and the health of these people, especially workers exposed to unsafe working conditions.
We call on the World Conference to recognize and campaign against environmentally racist policies that target Indigenous Peoples, poor, disadvantaged and vulnerable groups for environmental degradation or destruction, including nuclear testing, dumping of chemical or nuclear waste, using storing or deploring toxic, nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, deforestation, irresponsible mining operations, oil pollution, timber logging and military bombing exercises on colonies, former colonies or occupied territories such as Vieques, Puerto Rico. We call on past and present polluters to provide the detoxification of polluted sites and the people who live near them.
We call on the states to fully reinforce legislation and policies that protect all of society from dangerous practices and toxins like lead and asbestos that tend to pollute the environment and cause adverse affects. We call on States to fund research, environmental impact studies, technical assistance, and health resources to Indigenous Peoples, African and African descent, disadvantaged people, and communities impacted by environmental racism, pollution, contamination, and degradation. We call on the States to cease the appropriation and exploitation of Indigenous People, their traditional medicine and traditional food sources.
We call on the states to force multi-national corporations to abide by international safety norms and offer compensatory measures to affected communities and guarantee a healthy and sustainable existence for all members of society and cease the use of deceptive practices that promise economic resources to Indigenous Peoples and disadvantaged people without revealing information about adverse health effects or environmental degradation as a result of proposed sitings, such as megadams that displace people from their homes.
We call on States to cease the land appropriation and land exploitation of Indigenous Peoples, African and African descent, and farmers from disadvantaged or vulnerable groups.
We call on States to provide equal access to all forms of transportation and housing.
We recognize and
condemn the deceptive lobbying by multinational corporations of community “leaders”
to support and promote environmental developments without the full disclosure
of negative health and environmental degradation.
We call on States to provide adequate housing for vulnerable groups including equal access to running water, heat, electricity and to provide accessibility, security and private sanitation, especially protection from forced eviction for Roma people, Indigenous Peoples, African and African descents and all other marginalized groups.
By Non State Actors:
Multilateral Financial and development Institutions, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and regional development institutions, and by any development cooperation.
Ensure opportunities for young women, including Indigenous women, African, and African descent, to participate in environmental decision-making at all levels, including as managers, designers and planners, and as implementers and evaluators of environmental projects.
Facilitate and increase youth access to information and education, including in the areas of science, technology, agriculture, and economics, thus enhancing their knowledge capacity for self determination, skill and opportunities for participation in environmental decision making.
We call on governments to provide funding and resources to develop implement research, clinical and technical facilities to address and treat environmental health problems.
Chapter 4. JUSTICE (LEGAL MEASURES)
Actions to be taken:
By State Actors ~ Governments:
We demand that Governments should acknowledge and compensate peoples affected in various forms and observe legal instruments and institutions to ensure human rights of all people.
We recommend the establishing of a Human Rights Unit as part of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to dealt specifically with racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, with a specific Youth Unit to be an integral part of this monitoring and call upon the Secretary General to provide the required funding for its effective functioning and implementation.
We demand to mainstream and intersectional analysis of various forms of discrimination, including racial and gender discrimination, into design and implementation of programs of the UN system in social, economic and political domains;
We call on States to take all the appropriate measures to combat segregation of settlements of Roma people, Indigenous Peoples and any other groups particularly affected by these policies;
To eradicate law practices that portray youth as criminals, which are classify frequently based on stereotypes of race, social class and/or sexual orientation.
We demand the elimination of the substantive norms, laws and judicial processes that condemn children (child as defined by the International Convention on the Rights of the Child) to sentencing as adults and incarceration with adults, the use of the death penalty and life imprisonment without parole.
Call for the creation, unilateral acceptance, and ratification of a Universal Declaration of Youth Rights by all members States and its active implementation.
We demand UN members States to integrate the Human Rights framework in their judicial systems; specifically the mechanism of protection and international instruments, in order to ensure the existence and application of laws that protect youth.
Understanding that the death penalty unfairly targets disadvantaged groups we call on States to eliminate the death penalty for all persons.
We call for swift and effective punishment of all crimes against youth, especially those committed on account of their culture, race, gender, class, color, ethnic origin, language, religion and sexual orientation or because they are Indigenous Peoples, African, or people of African descent.
Children under 18 should not be forced to fight in armed conflict or war. Children can not volunteer in military services. We call for all states to ratify the additional protocol and the United Nations to ensure its enforcement
We urge States to devise and enforce legal provisions for the protection of people belonging to communities with a distinct ethnic identity, such as Sikhs. Individuals belonging to such groups face discrimination on a complex interplay of racial, ethnic, cultural and religious barriers and therefore may not be covered by existing legislation and policies that protect race or religion.
We call for monitoring of deaths in custody of marginalized people and increase funding, resources and support for deaths in custody watch committees.
We call government to provide legislation to interdite political parties who have political principles against human rights, as fascist, racist, nazi, or another form of intolerance.
We call all States to implement and adopt to its national constitutions the additional Protocol on the Rights of Children in Conflict which prohibit the enrollment of children under the age of 18 into armed forces.
We demand that youth under 18 should not be obligated to fight in armed conflicts or wars.
Young people should not be coerced by their governments or military forces to join the military service.
Governments should grant amnesty to all child political prisoners as well as child prisoners of war. Furthermore, special attention should be paid to redress the particular challenges facing child political prisoners and child prisoners of war such as solitary confinement and torture. This amnesty and attention of redress should be inclusive of imprisoned children as well as adults who were imprisoned as children.
We urge governments to eliminate the presence of police and armed law enforcement in educational environments and to create and implement alternative programs to address youth offenses that occur within educational institutions such as: peer to peer counseling, qualified alternative schools, parent, school and teacher counseling.
We call on States to provide resources to enable NGOs and Youth Groups to implement programs that support equal access and equal treatment of young people.
We call on UN Member States to integrate the human rights framework standards and protection mechanism in their judicial system, especially the mechanism of protection.
We call on States to provide full citizenship rights to all youth and not to discriminate against youth of a particular group on the basis of citizenship or their status or condition of residence.
We call for the design, implementation and enforcement of laws to stop transitional shipment of hazardous wastes and toxic substances and medicines banned in their country of origin.
We call on States to legalize all of the citizens living in the countries to ensure the access to basic need and full citizenship on a residence basis.
By Non State Actors:
By National and International Non-Governmental organizations and religious institutions, civil society organization, and political parties.
Promote the implementation of alternative programs that assure adequate social reintegration of young offenders; such as providing financial resources for a cultural and community centers and skills building to prepare for useful participation in the society.
We encourage the NGO community to promote diversity understanding in the application of the law and to provide support for the access to legal bodies in your own languages, or with the adequate translation.
Mandatory sentencing laws should be repealed and replace with prevention, early intervention and rehabilitation programs, which are developed and implemented in consultation with indigenous peoples communities. Young people should be provided with interpreters when police charges are laid and in the prison system.
We call for all developed countries to introduce international student cards that would enable the basic right of free movement to the African victims of racist discriminatory laws and all other youth affected by this policies.
NGOs should help further utilized all their means for fostering reconciliation with regards to conflict resolution among the most vulnerable groups in the society.
We recommend that NGOs help integrate immigrants into local communities by developing workshops and programs that can be widely implemented on the communal level.
Chapter 5. POVERTY & ECONOMY (GLOBALIZATION)
Action to be taken:
By State Actors ~ Governments:
We call state actors to recognize that poverty crisis propounds racist attitudes and problems of poverty must be addressed as a stepping stone towards eradicating racism.
We demand that states adopt the most effective methods in order to discourage sex trafficking and labor practices that are exploitative of young people. With emphasis on conducting an investigation of the role of globalization in the increased profits from sex trafficking and labor practices that are exploitive of young people.
We call on governments to recognize that the poverty crisis propounds racist attitudes and we therefore, state that Poverty is a violation of human rights.
Oppose a world that increasingly resembles a global system in which the forces of globalization disproportionately benefit the Western Nations and rich individuals and disproportionately harm the poor and the developing nations in terms of poverty, environmental degradation, and social disintegration.
Demand that government institutions recognize that they have responsibilities towards the Indigenous and local people whose land they have destroyed through their project development.
We demand for the land restitution program that will address the land quest for historical dispossess communities, especially ex colonial countries.
Demand that multi-national corporations no longer be allowed to patent the resources of Indigenous Peoples and people around the world or to deny them access to their traditional ways of life.
By Non State Actors:
Multilateral Financial and development Institutions, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and regional development institutions, and by any development cooperation:
Demand that multinational corporations no longer be allowed to patent the resources of Indigenous Peoples and people of African descents, and Africans or to deny them access to their traditional ways of life.
We call for a revision of the current World Trade Organization, the International Financial Institutions policies and regulations involving young people; in order to create and environment which will allow developing countries to be responsible for fixing, monitoring and controlling the prices of their products and resources produced or extracted on their countries.
Insist that multinational corporations that employ young people provide for safe and humane working conditions at living wages that allow them to provide a meaningful income for their families.
Insist that multinational corporations be prohibited from using the lands and territories of Indigenous Peoples and African and People of African descent.
We demand that the private sector provide humane and safe conditions for all workers, paying special attention to young workers; that allow them to be employed and to receive job training.
By National and International Non-Governmental organizations and religious institutions, civil society organization, and political parties:
International NGOs need to provide financial aid to local NGOs to combat the effects of racism, racial discrimination on the ground.
We request international bodies and organizations to unconditionally cancel the debt for developing countries that are unable to further economic development due to the high burden of debt servicing.
Chapter 6. MEDIA & NEW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES (INTERNET)
Action to be taken:
By State Actors ~ Governments:
We recommend that governments take more responsibility for disallowing the propagation and normalization of racist images in the media and that they take a proactive approach to promote positive images of all peoples, specifically the combination of the media’s negative portrayal of young African and African descendants and the lack of promotion of positive images.
We recommend that states strengthen the broadcast of public service channels, and that governments use the media to increase awareness of economic, employment and other opportunities, that are available to each immigrant, refugees, Indigenous Peoples, Peoples of African descents.
We demand the provision of equal representatives of different racial, national, ethnic, religious groups existing within the states in all public media.
By Non State Actors:
By National and International Non-Governmental organizations and religious institutions, civil society organization, and political parties.
We urge all international and national non-governmental organizations to develop and promote campaigns that encourages youth participation in decision making within the media.
We commit ourselves to develop and implement projects around monitoring acts of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance with particular reference to reports and publications covering African and African descendants, Indigenous peoples, immigrants, refugees, of both public and private media institutions.
Young people must be encouraged to speak out collectively for their rights and issues of concern. Increased funding and resources for media, Internet and public speaking training programs for young people to facilitate self-representation and community participation.
Chapter 7. MINORITY
RIGHTS
Action to be taken:
By State Actors ~ Governments:
Develop and implement educational programs in ORIGINAL LANGUAJES aimed at encouraging the participation of young people from minority background.
Allocate the necessary funds to allow youth organizations working in the field of minority rights to successfully carry projects aimed at involving young people from minority background in the society at all levels.
Facilitate the participation of people from minority background within the Governmental structures and in the decision making processes
We call for the eradication of systematic barriers to education, healthcare, housing, unemployment and other social services that prevent minority communities from developing, including the development of programs aimed at promoting intercultural understanding among young people.
By Non State Actors:
Multilateral Financial and development Institutions, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and regional development institutions, and by any development cooperation.
By National and International Non-Governmental organizations and religious institutions, civil society organization, and political parties.
Youth organizations can play a very important role in the inclusion of young people from minority background through their activities and their structures. Particular attention should be paid to the way in which policies and positions taken can affect young people from minority background and their participation in youth organizations and in society in general. [As well, Youth Organizations need to assume leadership in the fight to eliminate discriminatory behaviors as well as advocate the faithful implementation of laws and policies.]
Chapter 8. MULTIPLE FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION & INTERSECTION (YOUNG WOMEN)
Actions to be taken:
By State Actors ~ Governments:
Review and modify, with the full and equal participation of all women, especially young marginalized women, in macroeconomic policies and social policies with a view to achieving the objectives of the Plan of Action.
Analyze from a gender perspective, within an intersectional framework, policies and programs including those related to macroeconomic stability, structural adjustment, external debt problems, taxation, education, health care, social security, social services, justice systems, immigration and refugee policies specifically about women African descent, Indigenous Peoples, African, Dalit, Roma, investments, employment, markets and all relevant sectors of the economy-with respect to their impact on poverty, on inequality and particularly on women; assess the impact on their well being and conditions and adjust them, as appropriate, to promote more equitable distribution of productive assets, wealth, opportunities, income and services.
We demand from State actors to recognize the special status of Indigenous Peoples and national minorities, including those who have become national minorities through a process of colonization and dispossession of their land, and to ensure that their social, economic, political and cultural rights are protected by law.
Develop a systematic and coordinated information, education and advocacy program on peace, respect for children, women’s rights and cultural differences.
Develop and implement anti-poverty and self-sufficiency programs, including resources for women’s community organizations that improve access to social and economic services and decision-making mechanisms, for women living in poverty and women working in the informal sector.
In partnership with women’s organizations, implement measures to promote and protect the human rights of young marginalized women and children who are victims of all forms of violence, including sex trafficking, armed conflict, ethnic cleansing, sexual assault, sexual exploitation, displacement and dispossession.
Recognize the role of police, military and other state actors in perpetrating violence against women – especially Dalit women, refugee, immigrant, Indigenous Peoples, African descent and minority women and women living in occupied territories – and take immediate measures to eliminate all state violence against women.
Implement anti-discrimination measures that recognize that women from certain ethnic communities and national minorities with a distinct identity, such as the Sikhs, Roma people, Indigenous Peoples, African descent, Muslims face discrimination on a complex interplay of racial, ethnic, cultural and religious barriers.
Develop and implement programs and mechanisms, particularly youth led strategies, to ensure full participation in decision-making of young marginalized women at all levels of society towards their empowerment, enjoyment of equal rights, and development of their full participation. Further commit adequate resources and funding to these strategies.
We urge governments to legalize abortion in States where it is not already legal in order to ensure women’s access to sexual health education and quality health services.
The physical and psychological violence, forced sterilization, forced pregnancy and female genital mutilation must be recognized as a universal crime without regarding cultural prejudices. The Member States must guarantee day-care centers in universities and workplaces and free access to education for young women.
Governments must adopt effective action to combat sexual tourism and exploitation that especially affect children and young women.
Develop and implement programs to achieve the full participation of young women in society at all levels
By Non State Actors:
Multilateral Financial and development Institutions, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and regional development institutions, and by any development cooperation.
We reject “structural adjustment programs” that have been imposed by the above organizations and other similar organizations that eradicate the sovereignty and eliminate the self-determination of the people.
We demand social and economic development programs that address the needs and guarantee the full enjoyment of citizenship of all historically discriminated groups on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, caste and class including women, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual people, disabled, poor, indigenous, immigrant, and those living with HIV/AIDS. Similarly, Youth NGOs should review the international and national laws which exclude the above mentioned people. Human rights must not be violated under the justification of cultural and religious sovereignty.
We recommend that the World Health Organization must have an integral and holistic vision about health, multi-ethnicity at different levels, and develop public policies especially addressed to children and young women.
In accordance with the commitments made at the World Summit for Social Development, seek to mobilize new and additional financial resources that are both adequate and predictable and mobilized in a way that maximizes the availability of such resources and uses all available funding sources and mechanism with a view to contributing towards the goal of poverty eradication and targeting women living in poverty;
We demand for an International parallel process for youth to discuss and shape their attitude and contribution towards the World Summit for Sustainable Development which is due to take place next September and many other international conference to take place over the next coming ten years.
We further demand for the establishment of an exclusive Youth Secretariat to work with focus in ensuring the youth input from National, regional and international level.
Ensure that structural adjustments programs are designed to minimize their negative effects on vulnerable and disadvantage groups and communities and to assure their positive effects on such groups and communities and to assure their positive effects on such groups and communities and to assure their positive effects on such groups by preventing their marginalization in economic and social activities; take actions to reduce inequality and economic disparity.
Create and enabling environment that allows women to build and maintain sustainable livelihoods.
By National and International Non-Governmental organizations and religious institutions, civil society organization, and political parties:
Mobilize all parties involved in the development process, including academic institutions, non governmental organizations and grass roots and youth groups to improve the effectiveness of anti poverty programs directed towards the poorest and most disadvantage groups of women, such as rural and Indigenous women, refugees and migrant women and women with disability
Ensure that structural economic adjustment programs in their many forms are designed to eliminate their negative effects on vulnerable and disadvantage groups and communities and to assure their positive effects on such groups by preventing their marginalization in economic and social activities; take actions to eliminate inequality and economic disparity.
Youth organizations should play the fundamental role of ensuring the active and full participation of young women [in decision-making processes] both in their activities and in their structures [especially in issues such as health and environment].
Chapter 9. HUMAN
RIGHTS & CITIZENSHIP
Action to be taken:
By State Actors ~ Governments:
Equal opportunity and human rights should have the power to act on discrimination cases, without the victim lodging a complaint. Increased funding of legal aid and advocacy services, to assist young people to make charges against racial discrimination.
The governments should substantially increase immigration intake under the family and humanitarian/refugee programs to ensure there is equity in different streams. The immigration intake policy should not discriminate on the basis of health and disability and other disadvantage groups.
Mandatory detention of refugees should be repealed and replaced by a model of integrating and supporting refugees in the community. Restrictive social welfare policies that have denied migrants assistance during their most vulnerable period in the world should be repealed.
We demand from state actors to ensure that all citizens have equal access to state controlled resources, including land, natural resources and government budgets allocations, and that this right to be protected by law.
We call upon the states to review and enact all the discriminatory citizenship laws, especially those regarding naturalization.
We urge States to devise and enforce legal provisions for the protection of people belonging to communities with a distinct ethnic identity, such as the Siks, Muslims, and Jewish people; as individuals belonging to such groups may not be cover by existing human rights legislation and policies which are based on limitations and reasonable groups that protect race or religion.
Chapter 10. COLONIALISM
& FOREIGN OCCUPATION & NEW FORM OF APARTHEID
Action to be taken:
By State Actors ~ Governments:
We demand from state actors to respect and implement international law that protects the rights of all refugees and displaced persons in particular their right to return to their lands and homes, and for those refugees who are not protected by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to be provided with effective and permanent United Nations protection, until their situation is resolved according to principles of international law.
We demand from state actors who continue to oppress and subject peoples under foreign occupation, colonialism and new forms of apartheid, particularly Israel to cease and desist from the excessive and lawful use of force against Palestinian civilians, especially children and young people, we demand from the United Nation members states provide immediate measures including economic and trade sanctions, embargoes, cutting off all sporting diplomatic and other ties until the abolishment of foreign occupation, colonialism and new forms of apartheid.
Human rights observes have noted that since September 2001, more than one-third of all Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers are youth under 18 years old.
We call from an unconditional Israel withdrawal from all territories occupied in 1967 in accordance with UN resolution 242 and the Palestinian peoples right to self-determination.
We call the United Nations member’s states to stop further military aid to Israel (currently at $ 3 billion a year) on Israel’s compliance with the US Arms Export Control Act of 1976 and Foreign Act of 1976 and Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, which prohibit the sale of US weapons to countries that violate human rights.
We demand the countries involved to provide referendum for Puerto Rico and Tibet under international monitoring in order to express their own willingness for sovereignty and any other political options.
We demand and end to the targeting and execution of human rights defenders and to stop the continued violations of human rights in Tibet.
We demand that the dollarization of economies in the Americas be recognized as a form of colonialism.
We note that the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in other parts of the African Continent has destabilized and restricted growth in the entire African Continent. We support the withdrawal of all foreign troops in the various continental conflicts and call for complete measures to be instituted to ensure democratically elected governments. The UN fund a substantial peacekeeping force.
We support the millennium partnership for the new African Initiative as proposed by African leaders and ask that it be officially adopted, accepted and supported internationally.
By Non State Actors:
Multilateral Financial and development Institutions, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and regional development institutions, and by any development cooperation & National and International Non-Governmental organizations and religious institutions, civil society organization, and political parties:
We urge for the immediate formation of a UN observer force to the region, including Israel and territories occupied in 1967.We further call for the investigation and prosecutions of crimes against Palestinian people perpetrated by the Israelis.
We urge the Secretary General to allocate the necessary funding for UNWRA to meet its mandate, particularly re: education and women’s health services.
We call on international NGOs to engage with their Palestinian and Israeli counterparts working for and end Israel occupation and the creation of frameworks for a just and lasting peace in the region. Palestinian and Israeli women’s NGO’s in particular have taken courageous stand on the current conflict. These groups should be recognized and supported by international NGOs working in the region.
We call on business worldwide to divest from the Israeli economy until such time as Israel abides by UN Resolutions and international human rights standards.
We call for the establishment of a war crimes tribunal to investigate and bring to justice those who may be guilty of war crimes, acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing and the crime of apartheid which amount to crimes against humanity, that have been or continue to be perpetrated against people who lived and continue to live under foreign occupation, colonialism and new forms of apartheid.
We call on the UN Security Council and in particular the United States to lift the sanctions against Iraq.
We call upon the UN to put pressure on countries that exercise gender apartheid and caste as they rob women of their basic human rights.
We demand UN Member States to convene a Youth Conference on the rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2004.
Chapter 11. SLAVERY
& SLAVE TRADE: COMPENSATION & REPARATIONS
Actions to be taken:
By State Actors ~ Governments:
Recognizing that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, we urge all states to officially recognize that slavery (e.g., the enslavement of Africans, child slavery, the Dalits, sexual slavery and the enslavement of indigenous peoples) is a crime against humanity, that those who were and still are directly involved benefited economically from forced labor, and that the victims of the slave trade (including the descendants of these slaves) must be compensated for the violation of their human rights.
We call upon for the transformation of the UN security Council particularly on its permanent membership status to be open up to other UN members states from other regions and its veto right. We further demand for an unconditional uplifting of the sanctions against Iraq and Cuba from the Security Council and in particular the United States of America.
We demand that:
All states declare slavery as a crime against humanity;
To put pressure on the government of Afghanistan to demand the rights of human rights workers particularly women.
All states that benefited economically from slavery officially recognize their involvement and take concrete measures to compensate the victims of the slave trade by allocating funding to various education, health, economic and political empowerment programs developed, directed and implemented by the descendants of enslaved peoples and guaranteeing the active and effective involvement of youth at all levels (this may occur in the form of investment in the Fond Mondial de Solidarité);
All states that were actively involved in slavery (notably the United States, Western Europe, and Middle Eastern countries) or colonial practices must compensate enslaved peoples (and their descendants) for the damages inflicted upon them and must create, implement, financially support programs designed to empower these peoples;
The United Nations create an affiliated, international organ within existing instruments in order to monitor and improve the treatment of the descendants of enslaved peoples;
The truth about slavery, its victims and its perpetrators (including state actors and multinational corporations) must be incorporated into all history books which are used in all schools across the world and resources are allocated to ensure that education is accessible to all people;
Ensure that member states of the United Nations ratify the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Child Rights Commission, the CERD, and CEDAW and that further legislation be formulated and implemented in which minority groups are involved in all levels of the formulation and implementation processes;
That states demonstrate solidarity to the citizens of politically destabilized states, which are administered by corrupt regimes and actively combat contemporary forms of slavery
The debts of African, Caribbean, Latin American and Asian governments which are owed to foreign governments and international lending agencies be cancelled, that the governments and institutions invest in the revitalization of these countries through initiative organizations and program implementations such as the New Africa Initiative, and that states return stolen art from Africa;
Programs designed for the descendants of slaves do not discriminate unfairly based on region, country, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion or disability;
General amnesty for political prisoners across the world, especially those in the United States, and the demilitarization of occupied zones such as Vieques in Puerto Rico and Guantanamo Bay in Cuba; and
All people are given the right to self-determination and universal health care including medication for HIV/AIDS.
That the International Community recognize that chattel slavery and other forms of involuntary servitude imposed in past centuries on Africans and their descendants and on Indigenous Peoples of the Americas as well as the slave trade itself, constituted crimes under the domestic law of the time in some cases, and today, could constitute crimes against humanity under International Law; Resultant damages to these communities require the allocation of substantial international and national resources for their redress.
We join other organizations in advocating the establishment of international reparations measures that will allocate funds for the economic, political, cultural, and social development of people of African descent in Africa and the Americas.
Global Youth Positions ~ International Instruments and Mechanism of Enforcement:
Urges State Actors that have not yet done so without delay to sign and ratify and to allocate the required financial support for its full implementation of the following instruments:
a. The Convention against Discrimination in Education, adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization;
b. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, with a view to achieving universal ratification within five years, and to sign and ratify the Optional Protocol;
c. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No.138) and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No.182) of the International Labour Organization;
d. The Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 and (No.169) of the International Labour Organization and the Convention on Biological Diversity, and revise Convention No.169, in consultation with Indigenous Peoples, to overcome its deficiencies, in order to progress in the eradication of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance;
e. The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families of 1990, and to prohibit and prevent discriminatory treatment against foreigners and migrant workers, inter alia concerning the granting of visas, work permits, family conditions, housing and access to justice, and health systems base on race, colour, descents or national of ethnic origin;
f. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;
g. The United National Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children supplementing the Convention, in order to end practices that lead to various kinds of servitude and exploitation such as debt bondage, slavery and sexual or labour exploitation;
As well to provide specific attention to:
The International Youth Summit calls on States to financially and morally support the creation and operation of an Independent Non-Governmental youth-driven Global Youth Network to advocate youth issues in the framework of the youth Declaration and Plan of Action.
We also call for an annual monitoring mechanism to ensure that youth organization representatives to meet and exchange information and best practices fight against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance.
We call for the co-operation of the aforementioned Global Youth Network with other existing youth networks, such as the World Youth Forum of the UN Youth Unit, The Regional Youth Forums in Africa, Europe, The Americas, The Asia-Pacific and world wide issue-based youth networks including Human Rights, Environmental, Religious and peace movements.
The States should ensure that youth organizations representatives are greatly supported in participating in the development and implementation of the Tent Year review of the WCAR Plan of Action through the provision of resources and political support to contribute to the elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance both at the International and domestic level, emphasizing the value of children’s and young people’s experience and encouraging exchange programs that allow all children and young people to work with their peers from all over the world, in order to enhance international bonds of solidarity.
CLOSING REMARKS
Gratitude to the great efforts made by the members of the Drafting Committee and the International Youth Committee, and the South African Youth Task Team, the final version was adopted on September 2, 2001 at 1:00 am in the Criket Stadium in the context of the United Nations NGO Forum for the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance.
Durban, South Africa 2001.
Note of Appendixes:
- Compilation of Youth Declarations
- Members of the Drafting Team by region
- Members of the South African Youth Task Team
- Members of the International Youth Committee
- Participants during the International Youth Summit
- Note of Protest by United Nations Association of China on the question of Tibet
- Note of Protest by the European Union of Jewish Students on the grounds of facing anti-semitic views express by participants of the NGO Forum.
ANEXES
· Compilation of Youth Declarations and Programs of Actions:
Europe:
- Declaration of Europe: “Values Have No Boundaries – Action for the Millennium”
[Coventry, United Kingdom ~ 10.16 August 2000]
European Youth Forum Position Paper
[Brussels ~ 19.20 May 2001]
Americas:
- Declaration of the Americas Regional Youth Caucus
[Santiago, Chile ~ 3.7 December 2000 / Quito, Ecuador ~ 12.13 March 2001]
Asia / Pacific:
- Declaration of Asia: Asian Youth Statement
[Melaka, Malaysia ~ 20.27 July 2001]
Africa:
- Declaration of Africa: Pan African Youth Forum
[Kigali, Rwanda ~ 18.23 August 2001]
Africa Youth Declaration
Durban, South Africa 2001
· International Youth Caucus Consultation
- Youth Consultation Results.
[Geneva, Switzerland ~ 31 May 2001]
· Country Specific Declarations:
- South Africa: Child and Youth Declaration. 6.7 March 2001.
- Australia: Youth Consultation Recommendations. 10 April 2001.
- Philippines: Youth Declaration and Programme of Action. 28 May 2001.
- Canada: National Youth Forum Declaration. 13.15 July 2001.
. Peru : 15 al 17 de August 2001 Latin American Youth Conference
· Issue Specific Declarations:
- Youth of African Descents Declaration. Uruguay 21.27 July 2001.
- Arab Youth Declaration. Manama, Bahrain 28.29 July 2001.
- Indigenous Youth Declaration. Geneva, Switzerland 30 July.10 August 2001.
- Afrikan Youth Declaration, Norway 2001.
- Roma Youth Declaration, Durbam South Africa 2001.
- Indigenous Youth
Global Youth Declaration, Durban, South Africa 2001.
Source: ICARE