Skip to main content

Youth Rights Caucus Oral Statement

Yesterday, the Youth Rights Caucus, consisting of young people that actively advocate for sexual rights at the CSW58 - including CHOICE for Youth and Sexuality, presented its oral statement. 

“I would like to share the following recommendations from the Youth Rights Caucus at CSW58. 

As we begin to define the post-2015 global development framework, it is absolutely critical that we reflect on and learn from the gaps and successes of the Millennium Development Goals.
While we have seen progress in the last 15 years through the MDGs, the goals that remain furthest from being achieved are those focused on women and girls. This is due to persistent stigma and discrimination against women of all ages and backgrounds,  inadequate investment in comprehensive sexuality education and sexual and reproductive health services, and a lack of willingness to champion women and girls' sexual and reproductive rights as human rights.

We are deeply troubled by recent retrogression on issues agreed to decades  ago and the lack of political will to champion our rights.  With our lives at stake, it is an imperative that Member States take action and not only re-commit to upholding our rights, but advance them. 

Specifically, we urge you to agree to the following priorities:
  • Respect, protect, and fulfill the sexual rights of all women and girls.
  • Fully commit to the provision of youth-friendly comprehensive sexuality education for all young people and adolescents, in and out of school.
  • Provide access to comprehensive and integrated sexual and reproductive health services, including safe and legal abortion services and emergency contraception.
  • Acknowledge and address the root causes of gender inequalities, including social norms that permit and promote violence and discrimination against women and girls;
  • Take immediate action to end all forms of violence against women and girls, including sexual and gender based violence, early and forced marriage, female genital mutilation and other harmful practices; and
  • Ensure all women and girls have equal rights and access to resources and opportunities for decision making at all levels - thereby promoting socio-economic and political equality and justice
This means committing to a post-2015 development agenda that:
  • Is grounded in human rights principles, and prioritizes gender equality, social, economic, and environmental justice;
  • Meaningfully engages women’s and youth organizations at all levels in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programs and policies;
  • Incorporates the outcomes of the ICPD 20 year review process, especially the Bali Global Youth Declaration
  • Eliminates all forms of discrimination against women and girls, including persons living with HIV/AIDS, those living with disabilities, people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, and other marginalized groups; and
  • Includes targets that reflect the intersectional nature of gender inequalities, and address multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and marginalization.
If we are serious about a development agenda that will eradicate poverty, it is the responsibility of governments to accept and respond to the realities of women and girls. Therefore, we must include in our next development agenda a standalone goal on gender equality and women's and girls' human rights as well as cross-cutting gender-sensitive targets that guarantee those rights.

Young people's sexual and reproductive health and rights can no longer be deemed "too controversial" to include in the agenda.  We are looking to Member States' strong political commitment to ensure that the post-2015 development agenda makes a real difference for women and girls.”

To see the statement in moving imagery, please see the website of the {Youth Coalition}[http://www.youthcoalition.org/un-processes/csw58-oral-statement/].


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CSW Revitalisation conversations in the region

  Photo: Facilitation team (Liliane Nkunzimana, Lopa Banerjee, Nadia van der Linde, Ivy Koek) What do you think about when you hear countries are committed to 'revitalize' the UN Commission on the  Status of Women (CSW)? "Oh, is it dying?" is one of the responses I've gotten, as if the CSW is holding on to its last straws at the moment, in desparate need of resuscitation. The challenges ahead for the current multilateral system, as well as for many of our national governments, are huge. In order to give gender equality and the rights of all women and girls a bit more of a boost, UN Women has been encouraging countries to commit to a process to 'revitalize' the CSW. And now that this has indeed been taken on board by governments from around the world in the recent Pact for the Future, the conversation is moving to: So what does that mean? During the NGO Forum in Geneva that took place just prior to the UNECE Beijing+30 Regional Review in October 2024 I co-f...
Post a Comment
Read more

The CSW68 is a wrap!

  Met Nederlands ambassadeur en CSW Facilitator Yoka Brandt op de foto na afloop van de CSW68 “We have reservations on the text. We don’t have instructions to proceed to adoption .” After seven days of negotiations at the UN during this year’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), Nigeria almost blocked the negotiated outcome document from being adopted. Almost, because after some formal and informal interventions in Conference Room 4, the Nigerian delegate, flanked by the Dutch Ambassador Yoka Brandt, added: “I now have instructions to support the adoption.” On the balcony filled with civil society as well as in the plenary room there was a clear sigh of relief followed by enthusiastic applause, hugging and photo taking. We have Agreed Conclusions ! Early negotiations As usual, the CSW negotiations process started early February with a Zero Draft , developed by UN Women and the CSW Bureau. And with input and inspiration taken from the Secretary General Report. For the EU...
Post a Comment
Read more

CSW68 Youth Dialogue statement by Fenna Timsi

  Dutch youth representative Fenna Timsi gives her statement in the CSW68 Youth Dialogue On Thursday afternoon, 14 March 2024, the Dutch youth representative Fenna Timsi gave her statement in the CSW68 Youth Dialogue inside the UN. The reflections from several participants of this year's Youth Dialogue - the second ever as part of the CSW - were that it has much improved compared to last year. Importantly, many more of the people who were given the floor were actually young people themselves. Many of the statements were rich and relevant in content with clear and important messages for the government delegates in the other room in the UN who had started the negotiations for the outcome document. Read Fenna's statement below or see the full Youth Dialogue here (Fenna's statement is at 1:20:10). Dear all,   As the Dutch UN Youth Representative, I thank you to speak independently on behalf of young people in the Netherlands, not on behalf of the government. I spoke to many yo...
Post a Comment
Read more