It was a great pleasure to facilitate back to back two sessions on "Youth Rights" and "Poverty eradication and food security sesions"
Mr. Alvarado commenced his speech referring to collective efforts from the past to ensure better living conditions in the world at large, paying special attention to the contribution of the United Nations. He believes that the three factors of the role of the youth, achieving the set goals for the youth and the role of youth in realizing their goals are of importance. He also emphasized the significance of a framework. He said that there should be a common understanding as well as a common framework for youth rights that are being discussed. He believes that the absence of a framework can lead to pressure. Further, he also added information on the steps taken globally in ensuring youth rights by referring to the special commission appointed by United Nations on ensuring youth rights. Talking about the plight of young women in the world, he said that half of sexual harassments incidents happen to young women under 16 years old.
Mr. Alvarado thinks that goal setting for 2015 should be ambitious and concrete. He also believes in
strengthening the mechanism process related to goal setting and implementation. His comment on
building new models on youth rights was that youth should be given the opportunity for direct
involvement. The second speaker, Mr. Wanasekara, spoke on how to achieve what needs to be achieved. Mr. Wanasekara believes in fighting for youth rights. “Dignity will not come to you in a platter” he said. He calls upon the young generation to take action to achieve their needs. He further explained his thoughts by referring to the relationship between the “right holders” and “duty bearers.” He believes that right holders should claim rights from the duty bearers and in return the duty bearers should fulfill their responsibility towards right holders. He believes that though the youth rights are in existence at present, there should be a mechanism to reach them. Concluding his speech, he showed the two choices the youth have: To fulfill their needs and live a “comfortable” life or to claim your rights and lead a “dignified” life.
A continuation of the roundtable discussion on “Youth Rights” was held at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) this morning. The speakers of the session included Assistant Representative for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for Sri Lanka Mr. Gamini Wanasekara and President of EIJ Mr. Alejandro Blancas Alvarado. The discussion was a continuation of the discussions from the last two days, which focused on topics such as implementation of youth rights and different definitions found in different countries on youth rights, among others.
The moderator commenced the session by talking about the importance of the three factors discussed at earlier sessions: Recognizing youth rights, access to youth rights and cultural differences among youth in the world, which set background for the continuation of the discussion.
The moderator commenced the session by talking about the importance of the three factors discussed at earlier sessions: Recognizing youth rights, access to youth rights and cultural differences among youth in the world, which set background for the continuation of the discussion.
Mr. Alvarado commenced his speech referring to collective efforts from the past to ensure better living conditions in the world at large, paying special attention to the contribution of the United Nations. He believes that the three factors of the role of the youth, achieving the set goals for the youth and the role of youth in realizing their goals are of importance. He also emphasized the significance of a framework. He said that there should be a common understanding as well as a common framework for youth rights that are being discussed. He believes that the absence of a framework can lead to pressure. Further, he also added information on the steps taken globally in ensuring youth rights by referring to the special commission appointed by United Nations on ensuring youth rights. Talking about the plight of young women in the world, he said that half of sexual harassments incidents happen to young women under 16 years old.
Mr. Alvarado thinks that goal setting for 2015 should be ambitious and concrete. He also believes in
strengthening the mechanism process related to goal setting and implementation. His comment on
building new models on youth rights was that youth should be given the opportunity for direct
involvement. The second speaker, Mr. Wanasekara, spoke on how to achieve what needs to be achieved. Mr. Wanasekara believes in fighting for youth rights. “Dignity will not come to you in a platter” he said. He calls upon the young generation to take action to achieve their needs. He further explained his thoughts by referring to the relationship between the “right holders” and “duty bearers.” He believes that right holders should claim rights from the duty bearers and in return the duty bearers should fulfill their responsibility towards right holders. He believes that though the youth rights are in existence at present, there should be a mechanism to reach them. Concluding his speech, he showed the two choices the youth have: To fulfill their needs and live a “comfortable” life or to claim your rights and lead a “dignified” life.
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