Connections within the ICPD Operational Review: Linking the Global Youth Forum to the Human Rights Conference

Transcription

1 Issues Paper Connections within the ICPD Operational Review: Linking the Global Youth Forum to the Human Rights Conference July 1st, 2013 The ICPD Review Youth Leadership Working Group * *This paper was commissioned by the co-organisers of the conference to the ICPD Review Youth Leadership Working Group. The views represented in this paper do not necessarily represent those of the co-organisers of the conference. 1

2 I. Introduction Adolescents and youth comprise a significant proportion of the global population today. Forty three per cent of the world s population is under 25 1 and an estimated 1.6 billion young people are aged In order to achieve the ICPD PoA, which aims to promote to the fullest extent the health, well-being and potential of all children, adolescents and youth, 2 it is crucial to recognize that adolescents and youth have specific needs and face unique barriers to exercising their rights. These needs and barriers require special attention. The purpose of this background document is to provide the reader with linkages between two global thematic meetings in the ICPD Operational Review Process: the Global Youth Forum and the Human Rights Conference 3. The document will highlight the key discussions that arose out of the Bali Global Youth Forum (GYF) 4, which relate to the key themes of the Human Rights Conference. This document does not offer a full overview on adolescents and youth and human rights, instead, it is hoped that the discussions from the Bali GYF will be taken to the next level in the context of the Human Rights Conference. For this reason, each section includes a couple of guiding questions. Co-hosted by the Government of Indonesia and the United Nations, 130 United Nations Member States; 80 youth groups; 300 individual youth participants; 50 non-governmental organisations; 2,500 online delegates; 40 private sector institutions; 50 representatives of the United Nations; and other stakeholders actively participated in the dialogues and formulation of recommendations of the Bali Declaration. The Bali Declaration is a landmark document in its affirmation of adolescents and youth rights, and its call for expanding the scope of human rights protection currently provided for adolescents and youth. Through the Bali Declaration young people from around the world, representing diverse constituencies and youth movements, demanded the elimination of all barriers to adolescents and youth rights to health, employment, education and participation. This document is not just a vision for the future, but also an urgent call upon those with decision-making power to respect adolescents and youth as rights holders. Decision makers need to engage with adolescents and youth, to recognize and support their leadership and decision-making capabilities, and to galvanize financial resources and political will in order to realize the rights of adolescents and youth worldwide. II. Inequalities & intersecting forms of discrimination affecting adolescents and youth enjoyment of their Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Adolescents and youth are not a homogenous group and it is crucial to recognize their diversity. They have different levels of physical and psycho-social development; are in-school Paragraph 6.7, Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, This Background Paper was developed by the ICPD Review Youth Leadership Working Group. The purpose of the YLWG is to strategize on how to ensure that youth voices, particularly as articulated in the Bali Declaration, are represented in the ICPD beyond 2014 review and post-2015 agenda activities, meetings and conferences. 4 UNFPA, Bali Global Youth Forum Declaration, UNFPA.WP.GTM.1 2

3 and out-of-school; are sexually active at different times and to different degrees; are married and unmarried; some are pregnant and young mothers; some are living with HIV or without the knowledge of their HIV status; are varied sexual orientations and gender identities; are living in poverty; and are of different ethnic and indigenous backgrounds among many other differences 5. In this section the various intersecting inequalities that are faced by adolescents and youth are explored. Citizenship of Adolescents and Youth Owing to these unique and diverse needs mentioned above, adolescents and youth are entitled to both the same rights as adults and specific rights as adolescents and youth; this will protect their rights and enable them to make their own choices. Failure to recognize adolescents and youth rights can leave them vulnerable to violations, and can compound other forms of marginalisation they may face. Therefore, ensuring that adolescents and youth can exercise their right to freely express their opinion, to organize themselves and to make decisions that will meet their needs is crucial. This will enable adolescents and youth to engage meaningfully in public discourses and policies that concern their lives. Addressing Underlying Inequalities Influencing Adolescents and Youth Health To address young people s enjoyment of their right to health it is important for the international communities and governments to address the underlying determinants of health such as economic status, education, age and gender based discrimination, empowerment, legal, social, cultural, geographical barriers etc. Some of these determinants, such as discrimination based on sexuality, gender and age, are embedded in laws, societal norms, and attitudes that show little respect for the human rights of adolescents and youth. Moreover, communities and families are often reluctant or find it difficult to respect adolescents and youth human rights and their evolving capacities to take decisions 6. This is often a result of unequal intergenerational power relations. The Bali Declaration recognizes the need for and calls on governments to provide, monitor and evaluate universal access to a basic package of youth-friendly health services, including mental healthcare and sexual and reproductive health services, that are high quality, integrated, equitable, comprehensive, affordable, needs- and rights-based, accessible, acceptable, confidential and free of stigma and discrimination for all adolescents and youth 7. Sexual and Reproductive Rights of Adolescents and Youth In the context of realizing the right to health, the Bali Declaration called for the removal of legal, policy and regulatory barriers that prevent and deter adolescents and youth from 5 Global Youth Forum Background Paper: Young People: Sexuality, Families, Rights and Well-Being, Progress, Gaps, Perspectives and Recommendations from the Global South led by ARROW. Accessible through: 6 Global Youth Forum Background Paper: Staying Healthy. Accessible through: 7 Bali Global Youth Forum Declaration page 4. 3

4 accessing services that are necessary to reach the full attainment of health, and compromise their own agency with regard to their sexuality. Specific barriers identified included age-limits on service provision and requirements that compromise confidentiality in medical decisionmaking by involving third parties, such as parental or spousal notification or consent. The Bali Declaration emphasized that policies, laws, and programmes that recognize, promote, and protect adolescents and youth sexual rights as human rights 8 should be developed in equal partnership with adolescents and youth and health care providers. Additionally, these mechanisms must be developed in accordance with the principles of human rights, nondiscrimination, respect, equality and inclusivity, with a gendered, multicultural and secular approach 9. Sexuality education is often approached from the HIV and health entry points, or from religious frameworks, rather than a rights- and evidence-based affirmative sexuality approach. Comprehensive sexuality education that is non-discriminatory, non-judgmental, rights-based, age appropriate and gender-sensitive should be provided in and out of school in order to create an enabling environment for young people to access their sexual and reproductive health and rights 10. Education curricula, including for comprehensive sexuality education, should be developed in partnership with adolescents and youth and include information on sexual orientation and gender identities that is free of religious intolerance 11. Inequalities Affecting Young Women and Girls In addition, special attention needs to be paid to adolescent girls and young women, because they face additional and multiple layers of inequalities that negatively impact their health and well-being; which puts barriers in realizing their rights. Inequalities are aggravated among young girls, especially those from marginalized groups, such as girls from poor households, young women and girls living with HIV, adolescents and youth living in conflict, postconflict, and humanitarian emergency settings, and from rural and hard-to-reach areas, amongst others This inequality is evident in the statistics on unsafe abortion which reveal the marginalization young women face because of their age and gender, which is further compounded by other forms of marginalization. For example, adolescent girls aged 10-19, account for at least million unsafe abortions in developing countries 14. Even in countries with liberal abortion laws, access to safe abortion services, for adolescents and young girls remains a challenge. Evidence shows that adolescents and young girls are more likely to delay seeking an abortion and to resort to unsafe abortion providers due to stigma, fear, lack of knowledge and financial 8 Bali Global Youth Forum Declaration page 9. 9 Bali Global Youth Forum Declaration page Bali Global Youth Forum Declaration page Bali Global Youth Forum Declaration page Global Youth Forum Background Paper: Young People: Sexuality, Families, Rights and Well-Being, Progress, Gaps, Perspectives and Recommendations from the Global South led by ARROW. Accessible through: 13 Growing up global: The Changing Transitions to Adulthood in Developing Countries (National Research Council, 2005)

5 resources. As a result this group is more likely to suffer from abortion-related complications, including immediate and long-term disability and death The Bali Declaration emphasizes that governments and UN agencies should support access to health services for adolescents and youth including ensuring access to legal and safe abortion that is affordable, accessible and free from coercion, discrimination and stigma 17. As a result of these realities, The Bali Declaration calls on governments to promote multistakeholder involvement in order to design, implement, develop, evaluate and laws, policies and programmes that end rape, sexual and gender based violence and eliminate harmful practices such as early and forced marriage, female genital mutilation/cutting, honor killings, and all other forms of violence that particularly affect young women, girls, or gender-nonconforming adolescents and youth 18. Given that various forms of inequalities are mutually reinforcing, governments should incorporate data disaggregation by gender, age, economic status, ethnicity, location etc. in order to support evidence based policies and programmes to encourage gender equity. Guiding Questions on Inequalities Faced by Adolescents and Youth How can decision-makers reform or enact laws and policies that decrease the inequalities adolescents and youth people face? How can civil society and community organizations work with policymakers/decisionmakers to establish effective partnerships with adolescents and youth in order to decrease/eliminate the inequalities and social barriers faced by youth? How can civil society work in partnership with policymakers in order to institutionalize effective partnerships with adolescents and youth at every level? III. The cycle of accountability in relation to the SRHR of Adolescents and Youth Recognizing the Sexual and Reproductive Rights of Adolescents and Youth The PoA clearly defines the concept of reproductive rights as embracing certain human rights that are already recognized in national laws, international human rights documents and other relevant United Nations consensus documents. 19 The Bali Declaration affirms the importance of protecting and promoting reproductive rights as human rights, and further calls for the recognition and realization of sexual rights 20 as human rights 21, thus expanding the scope of human rights protections currently provided for adolescents and youth rights. 15 Global Youth Forum Background Paper: Young People: Sexuality, Families, Rights and Well-Being, Progress, Gaps, Perspectives and Recommendations from the Global South led by ARROW. Accessible through: Care.pdf 17 Bali Global Youth Forum Declaration page Bali Global Youth Forum Declaration page Paragraph 7.3, Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, Defined with reference to: the WHO working definition of sexual rights, the Yogyakarta principles, and Sexual Rights: an IPPF Declaration 21 Bali Global Youth Forum Declaration page 9 5

6 However, there remains a lack of recognition across many international processes and national policies that, in order for sexual health to be attained and maintained, the sexual rights of all persons must be respected, protected and fulfilled. 22 Accountability to Marginalized Youth The Bali Declaration identified accountability, transparency and the need for implementation 23 as a cross cutting theme across all recommendations. This echoes the ICPD PoA, which called for ensuring accountability to all persons served, in particular the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in society, including the rural population and adolescents. As described earlier, vulnerable and disadvantaged groups experience marginalization and discrimination across various and intersecting lines. The Bali Declaration places special focus on several specific marginalized groups 24, underscoring the need to ensure laws, policies and programmes are accountable to these groups. The Bali Declaration emphasizes the need to strengthen legal protections for adolescents and youth human rights, with a focus on those adolescents and youth whose rights are most at the risk of being violated. It seeks to remove systematic discrimination by addressing the need to eliminate any hierarchy of some rights-holders over others. Furthermore, it calls on governments to address the need for remedies and redress for those adolescents and youth whose rights have been violated, through an accessible mechanism for adolescents and youth to report violations and gain support and justice to reclaim their rights. Strengthening the Cycle of Accountability With the ICPD paradigm shift to a rights-based approach, the ICPD PoA established a direct link with existing treaties on basic human rights. This link strengthened the requirement for governments to implement the PoA and ensure that national laws comply with the ICPD mandate in areas that directly relate to international human rights conventions. International mechanisms for recognizing and enforcing human rights obligations are necessary to ensure that human rights are respected, protected and fulfilled by governments at national level. National governments that resist adhering to international human rights standards perceive them as contradicting cultural or social values, especially as they relate to 22 WHO Draft Working Definition, October Bali Global Youth Forum Declaration page 2 24 The Bali Global Youth Forum Declaration defines vulnerable and marginalised groups as: afro-descendant populations, asylum seekers, those deprived of freedom, disadvantaged economic and social groups, documented and undocumented migrants, domestic workers, dropouts, drug users, ethnic minorities, girls and young women, indigenous people, language minorities, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex (LGBTQI), living on the street, Men who have sex with Men (MSM), out-of-school, people living with disabilities, pregnant girls, refugees, displaced peoples, religious minorities, rural populations and those living in rural areas, sex workers, undocumented workers, working in the informal economy, young parents, young people in conflict and emergency situations and Young People Living with HIV (YPLHIV), amongst others. 6

7 young rights-holders. The ratification and compliance with human rights treaty obligations remains uneven within and across regions. In addition, there is a disparity between the rights accorded to all rights holders through the international human rights framework and the realization of these rights. Effective mechanisms for ensuring accountability require checks and balances, and the involvement of multiple stakeholders, including adolescents and youth. Civil society organizations assume a significant role in advocating and supporting for the strengthening of laws and policies that impact the sexual and reproductive rights of adolescents and youth. Civil society organizations have had varying degrees of success in working with UN human rights mechanisms. However, there is a long overdue need for governments to be accountable since the Bali Declaration recognizes, the ultimate responsibility for fulfilling the rights of adolescents and youth rests on governments. Guiding Questions on the cycle of accountability in relation to the SRHR of Adolescents and Youth Recognizing the ways in which the ICPD PoA intersects with the international human rights framework, how can stakeholders strengthen links with mechanisms for accountability, including human rights treaty monitoring bodies and adolescents and youth access to rights? How can governments integrate adolescents and youth and other stakeholders into mechanisms for monitoring progress of the ICPD PoA in order to ensure a balance of perspectives reporting on progress? IV. The rights of Adolescents and Youth in the future development agenda In the coming two years, both the ICPD and the Millennium Developmental Goals (MDGs) will come to an end. While the ICPD PoA will be reaffirmed in 2014, the MDGs will be absorbed into the new development framework. The key priorities that will be identified during the ICPD Global Review Process (of which the Human Rights Conference is a meaningful part) are not only relevant for the ICPD Beyond 2014 Process, but should also influence the post-2015 process. It is therefore crucial that the ICPD process recognizes/acknowledges adolescents and youth as key actors in development. During its 56 th session the General Assembly has made this very clear: The full and effective participation of young people and youth-led organizations in relevant decision-making processes through appropriate channels is key to, inter alia, achieving the internationally agreed development goals ( ) and to implementing the outcomes of global conferences and summits. 25 In order to respond to the needs of adolescents and youth and to guarantee that their basic human rights are recognized and enforced, adolescents and youth active and meaningful 25 High Level Meeting on Youth: Dialogue and Mutual Understanding. A/RES/65/312, paragraph 20 7

8 participation in the different phases of the future development agenda will be of crucial importance 26. The ICPD PoA affirms this in paragraph 6.15: Youth should be actively involved in the planning, implementation and evaluation of development activities that have a direct impact on their daily lives. This is especially important with respect to information, education and communication activities and services concerning reproductive and sexual health, including the prevention of early pregnancies, sex education and the prevention of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. The Bali Declaration calls on governments and international bodies to create new and effective channels of social and political participation for civil society and youth organizations. 27 Complementing international youth programmes, national action plans need to be developed to support and foster meaningful youth participation at the national and local level, especially the meaningful participation of adolescents and youth from marginalized groups. The Bali Declaration urges governments and international organizations to undertake political reform to include adolescents and youth in policy-making and implementation and to remove legal, policy and regulatory barriers that hinder the meaningful participation and empowerment of adolescents and youth. 28 The Bali Declaration calls on national level governments to ensure that political representation of adolescents and youth is proportionate to their numbers and diversity, with special focus on young women and youth belonging to marginalized groups. 29 Programmes and mechanisms must be developed that support the formation of youth-led organizations and provide assistance in their further development since youth-led organizations often face difficulties establishing themselves legally, applying for funds, and forming (youth-adult) partnerships.. To increase the capacity of adolescents and youth and youth-led organizations to participate meaningfully, education and resources need to be provided through comprehensive training and funding including encouraging youth-adult partnerships. This can be achieved in partnership between governments, the private sector and adolescents and youth. Furthermore, legal and regulatory frameworks need to be put into place to increase adolescents and youth access to government and intergovernmental instutions. The General Assembly s call on governments to include youth representatives in their delegations 30 is an acknowledgement of this need. There should be measures to ensure adolescents and youth participation is not just a tokenistic gesture, and that they and youth-led organizations are meaningfully involved in development processes to ensure sustainable partnership. The collection of data and the development of disaggregated youth indicators play an important role in the evaluation and improvement of programmes targeting youth. More research is needed to assess adolescents and youth needs and the barriers they face. It is 26 Page xxxv, World Youth Report 2007, Young People s Transition to Adulthood: Progress and Challenges, Un DESA, Bali Global Youth Forum Declaration page Bali Global Youth Forum Declaration page Bali Global Youth Forum Declaration page Policies and programmes involving youth, A/RES/66/121, paragraph 19 8

9 important that adolescents and youth are not only the object of study, but are also meaningfully involved in the research. The Bali Declaration calls on governments to invest in building the capacity of adolescents and youth to collect and validate data, in order to ensure youth-led and youth-friendly monitoring and evaluation mechanisms in the design, planning and implementation of policies and programmes. 31 In summary, adolescents and youth and youth-led organizations should be acknowledged as full and equal partners in the development and implementation of the future development agenda. To ensure that adolescents and youth can meaningfully participate in international processes it is crucial that: 1. Barriers that hinder youth participation are removed; 2. Legal and institutional frameworks, channels and mechanisms are developed to ensure youth participation; 3. Youth participation increases at the national and local level; and 4. Disaggregated data on youth issues are collected and validated by adolescents and youth. Guiding Questions on The rights of adolescents & youth in the future development agenda What targets or indicators can be included in the post-2015 development framework to ensure that adolescents and youth are integrated fully into the implementation of the framework? How can we ensure the legacy of ICPD is reflected in the post-2015 framework, especially in regards to ensuring adolescents and youth sexual and reproductive health and rights? How can we make sure that adolescents and youth are not just mentioned separately, but their rights are incorporated across all themes in the post 2015 framework? 31 Bali Global Youth Forum Declaration page 3 9