Liaison Newsletter > LIAISON Vol. 2, No. 4, July 1998 - Articles

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Youth Participation for Human Development
by Tara Collins, Fraser King, Charissa McIntosh

As eighteen per cent of the earth’s total population, youth should be involved in any global effort to advance human development. In 1995 the UN General Assembly adopted the World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond (WPAY). The Plan of Action "provides a policy framework and practical guidelines for national action and international support to improve the situation of young people". It was developed for all 1.03 billion of the world’s youth (defined by the UN as individuals between the ages of 15 and 24).

The Programme covers ten areas concerning youth: namely education, employment, hunger and poverty, health, environment, drug abuse, juvenile delinquency, leisure-time activities, the situation of girls and young women, and effective participation of youth in the life of society and decision-making.

The WPAY has not been the only tool that the UN has used to increase the profile of the world’s young people. In 1989 the General Assembly has adopted the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Since 1991, it has also held two World Youth Forums in Vienna. They have elicited a useful exchange of ideas and developed a platform for cooperation among youth. More importantly, since 1995, these Youth Forums have played a key role in helping to implement the WPAY.

In early August 1998, the UN Youth Unit along with the Portuguese National Youth Council is hosting the third session of the World Youth Forum in Braga, Portugal. This Forum will provide an opportunity for delegates from youth and student movements and organizations from around the world to meet with representatives from the UN system. Strengthening existing ties, enhancing current channels of communication, and facilitating future cooperation are three key objectives of the upcoming Forum.

The delegates will be developing a set of proposals and recommendations which will focus on how youth issues, policy and participation can be incorporated more meaningfully into the work of the UN, and into national government policy and decision making. "The participation and situation of young women and men must be placed at the center of global efforts for sustainable development." (Third Session of the World Youth Forum.)

The final report of the World Youth Forum will be presented to the government representatives at the First World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth, held a week after the Youth Forum, from 8-12 August, in Lisbon, Portugal. This will be the first occasion where representatives of the world’s governments will meet to discuss youth-related issues on an international level. The Honourable Pierre Pettigrew, Minister of Human Resources Development, and the Honourable Ethel Blondin-Andrew, Secretary of State for Children and Youth, will be attending on behalf of the Canadian government and Canada’s 4.1 million youth.

In response to this new world focus on young people, Ottawa has demonstrated its willingness to foster stronger partnerships with youth organizations in the country. In early June, the World University Services Canada (WUSC), in collaboration with Human Resources Development Canada, held a consultation with Canada’s youth-serving and youth NGOs. This consultation was held to help prepare the Canadian delegation for the Conference in Lisbon, and to provide Ottawa with a snap-shot of Canadian youth priorities and concerns.

Participants at WUSC’s Youth Café Jeunesse developed a set of recommendations on federal policy in three thematic areas: education, employment and health. Futhermore, an overriding concern was the fact that Canada does not have a permanent body, or mechanism in place, for regular involvement of young people on policy issues. Consequently, it was strongly recommended to establish a national youth council that would provide a more permanent and sustainable structure for youth feedback, policy-formulation, and participation in the work of the Federal Government.

As the Federal government places increasing emphasis on the participation of civil society in its decision- and policy-making, it will be interesting to note the level of commitment that the Government places on the above recommendations next month in Portugal—and more importantly, in the follow-up to the World Conference.

A national youth council would be a start. But one day, the voice of Canadian youth should be heard on not just "youth issues", but all issues.

Tara Collins, UNA-Canada’s Youth Director, will be attending the World Youth Forum and, as a member of the Canadian delegation, the World Conference of Ministers responsible for Youth, in Portugal. She attended Youth Café Jeunesse and was one of two people to be selected by an independent Committee to participate in Portugal.