Youth rights webforum: key points

The role of youth in the modern world

During the forum, almost all participants noted the growing role of youth in modern realities. This point of discussion was reflected in the draft Convention on the Rights of Youth, in particular, in the preamble of the Convention it is enshrined that "in all countries, youth is one of the main human resources needed for development, and also a major participant in social transformation, economic development and technological progress".

Achievements in the sphere of strengthening youth

Representatives of practically all international organizations - UNESCO, OSCE, SCO, CIS, Inter-Parliamentary Union, Asian Parliamentary Assembly - stressed that strengthening the role of youth is one of the highest priority areas of their activity. Within the framework of these organizations, resolutions, plans, strategies on youth issues have been adopted. Thus, within the framework of the IPU, a resolution was adopted on the participation of youth in democratic processes, within the framework of the CIS - the Strategy for International Youth Cooperation, taking into account the provisions of the UN Youth Strategy "Youth 2030". Following the results of the SCO summit in Qingdao in 2018, the heads of state adopted on the initiative of Uzbekistan - the Joint Appeal to Youth and the Action Program for its implementation. within the framework of APA - the resolution “Ensuring quality development of children and youth for a sustainable society in Asia.

In addition to the documents, various structures on youth issues are actively operating, both at the national and regional and international levels - the Forum of Young Parliamentarians under the IPU, the OSCE / ODIHR Youth Coordinator, and the UN Ambassador for Youth.

Along with this, it should be noted that the draft Convention proposes the creation of another body - the UN Committee on the Rights of Youth.

Youth’s problems

Despite significant advances in this area, there are still many problems to be solved. In particular, despite the small number of adopted documents on the rights of youth, there is no single Convention. Young people are underrepresented in decision making, as evidenced by the fact that young people make up only 2% of parliamentarians in the world. Young people are vulnerable in the labor market. Many experts noted that certain representatives of the younger generation, due to various external and internal factors, being subjected to massive information-ideological and information-psychological influence, the imposition of alien values ​​and false religious beliefs, find themselves involved in terrorist, separatist and extremist activities.

Exacerbation of the problem of young people in a pandemic

The problems of young people have acquired particular urgency in the context of a pandemic. The pandemic has had a huge negative impact on the lives of young people, including education and the employment market, causing an increase in poverty, with a particular negative impact on the vulnerable. As noted, the UN Secretary General in his video message "The pandemic undermined the education of more than 90% of the world's students, exacerbating the already existing inequality and complicating the global crisis in the field of education."

The convention on the rights of youth as a new stage in international legal cooperation

During the forum, it is planned to discuss the text of the draft Convention on the Rights of Youth, the adoption of which was initiated by the President of Uzbekistan at the 72nd session of the UN. At the moment, a draft of this Convention has been developed. The work on the project lasted over 2 years. The regional experience accumulated in this direction and the best experience of foreign countries were studied. A number of activities were carried out at the regional and national level. The participants expressed their hope that the Convention will become a new stage in international legal cooperation in the field of human rights in general.

Uzbekistan's contribution to strengthening cooperation on youth issues

The Forum participants expressed deep gratitude to the Government of Uzbekistan for the initiative to adopt the Convention and the organization of the forum, despite all the difficulties caused by the pandemic. To ensure a comprehensive discussion of the text of the Convention, a forum website was created, where participants had the opportunity to present their proposals for the Convention, the forum was broadcast on Youtube and via Zoom, where chat rooms were organized for discussion. Representatives of international organizations expressed their readiness to further support the initiative of Uzbekistan.

Firuza Khamdamova, PhD.