DECLARATION FROM THE YOUTH CAUCUS
OF THE REGIONALWORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM, XENOPHOBIA,
INTOLERANCE AND
DISCRIMINATION
PREAMBLE
1. Considering that young people, particularly those of Indigenous
Peoples and African descent, have been discriminated against, excluded
from and marginalized in the decision making processes, resulting in
limiting theirfull and active participation politically, economically,
socially and culturally;
2. Identifying that youth representation has traditionally been
marginalized by government delegations to regional and international
conferences by having youth or young people that do not represent the
views, aspirations or struggles of the young people of the
Nation-state;
3. Realizing that many young people, throughout the Americas donot
have access to information about the United Nations World Youth Forum,
as witnessed by the Youth Caucus of the Conference of Citizens Against
Racism,Xenophobia, Intolerance and Discrimination;
4. Realizing that there is no method for young people of theSouth,
particularly those peoples of Indigenous and African descent, to
effectively participate in or be part of the selection process for
delegates to the World Youth Forum, as a result, having no effective
voice in the process of the Forum;
5. Strongly affirming the Youth Caucus extreme disappointment in the
scheduling of the World Youth Forum, which will make it difficult, if
not prohibitive, for young people to attend both the Forum and the UN
WorldConference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and
Related Intolerance;
6. Considering that there is no forum for young people around the
world to come together to discuss and formulate solutions around
racism,xenophobia, intolerance and discrimination;
DECLARATION
1. We call for a World Youth Consultation to be held in Durbin,South
Africa, one day prior NGO World Forum, sponsored and financed by the
HighCommissioner on Human Rights and UN Member States, to be an
official part of the UN World Conference Against Racism, Racial
Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. The design,process
and outcomes should involve the participation of young people.
2. We call for the states of the North to financially
supportdelegations of young people in need from the South to
participate in the full planning process and attend the Youth
Consultation of the World Conference Against Racism, Racial
Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance.
3. We call for an equitable method in selecting a representativegroup
of young people, with particular attention to Indigenous peoples,
peopleof African descendant, oppressed nationalities within a state,
migrants,immigrants, women, people with disabilities, lesbians, gays,
bisexuals, transgender persons and people with HIV/AIDS, to
participate in YouthDelegations to the UN World Conference Against
Racism, Racial Discrimination,Xenophobia and Related Intolerance
through a criteria that was developed by theYouth Caucus of the
Americas.
4. We urge the UN to provide institutional, financial and otherrelated
resources support for the development of a worldwide youth network to
be developed during both the World Youth Forum and the UN World
ConferenceAgainst Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and
Related Intolerance.
5. We recommend the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the World
Conference Secretariat to include a specific item of issues of young
people and to include it also on the agenda of the NGO World Forum and
integrate it into the agenda of the World Conference Against Racism.
6. We urge the states of the Americas to heighten the awareness and
disseminate the information of the existence and the work of the
WorldYouth Forum.
7. We call for member states to financially support young
peoplecommitted to youth issues in their states residence to
participate in the planning and implementation of the World Youth
Forum.
8. We urge UN member states to give a guarantee of inclusion of
disadvantaged and excluded youth, particularly Indigenous peoples,
people of African descendant, oppressed nationalities within a state,
migrants, immigrants, women, people with disabilities, lesbians, gays,
bisexuals,transgender persons and people with HIV/AIDS in the World
Youth Forum process.
9. We recommend that the Youth Caucus of the Regional Conferenceof the
Americas be given the ability to participate in the decision-makingprocess
of the World Youth Forum
10. We call for the World Conference in Racism to enable and encourage
young people to develop processes and activities which provide
opportunities for a wide cross-section of people in our societies to
demonstrate their commitment to racial harmony and reject all forms of
racial discrimination
11. We demand the UN and member nations to address the above
enumerated issues, by providing the following corrective actions
within thoseissues:
1)Legal Measures
a. Criminal Justice
-The elimination of all laws and practices by law
enforcement which criminalize youth, including racial
profiling.
-Encouragethe funding of community programs,
employment, and cultural centers, instead of funding
the prison industry andstricter law enforcement targeted
towards young people
b. Rights -Callfor the
design, unilateral acceptance and ratification of a Universal
-RightsDeclaration of Youth by all member states and its
active implementation
c. Youth Legislation
-Ensurethat there are laws that protect youth in their daily
lives, from their livesat home, to their lives in the
workplace
2) Education
a. Young people do not have access to technology.
-Provide universal access through the public sector to
technology, specifically access to the Internet and
corresponding training to use the Internet effectively
b. Young Indigenous peoples, young people of oppressed
nationalities within a state, young migrants and
immigrants, young Africandescendants and young women do not
have access to quality education or higherlevels of education
-Providea concrete mechanism for all youth to have access
to quality education
c. Mis-education of young people on the real histories of peoples
of the world
-Consult with UNESCO in order to completely revise
educational texts for their histories and descriptions
of traditionally oppressed peoples of the world
d. People do not have access to education in their own language
-Callfor all members states to provide quality education to
young people in the mother languages of the young people
3) Xenophobia and Discrimination
a. Because Indigenous peoples, people of African descendant,oppressed
nationalities within a state, migrants, immigrants, women, people
with disabilities, lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender persons
and people with HIV/AIDS are different, they are discriminated
against
-To encourage dialog and sensitivity sessions for both
government and civil society to encourage understanding
of youth of color facing discrimination from other areas
b. Youth are unable to gain access to quality employment
-Insist that the private sector to provide safe and humane
conditions for all workers,with special attention given to
young workers to allow for them to be employedand
receive a quality education
4) Globalization
a. Lack of Intellectual Property Rights/traditional medicines
denied to young people
-Insist that multinational corporations no longer be allowed
to patent the resources(e.g., environmental, cultural) of
Indigenous peoples and African descendant peoples or be
able to refuse access by Indigenous peoples to their
tradition always of life
b. Youth having to work for multinational corporations in orderto
help families survive
-Insist that multinational corporations that employ young
people provide for safe and humane work conditions at fair
wages which will allow them to provide a meaningful
income to their families
-Insist that all multinational corporations be prohibited from
Indigenous land and territories
c. Sexual tourism and exploitation of the cultural values of
Indigenous peoples, African descendants, migrants and
immigrants and women are negative forms of commercialism and
intersectional forms of gender, race, classand age discrimination.
-Suggest that states adopt more effective to stop sex
trafficking and the exploitationof youth labor.
-Emphasizing the investigation of the role of
globalization in the growth of economies based on sex
trafficking and exploitation of youth labor.
5) Health
-Youth do not have access to adequate healthcare,especially in
regards to preventative measures, education, and treatment
forHIV/AIDS as well as STDs.
-Toprovide free universal healthcare to all young people,
regardless of healthproblems they face.
-Toprotect the reproductive and sexual rights of youth.
6) Military Violence
-Military violence affects young people in a drasticway,
particularly, Indigenous young people, young people of African
descent andyoung people of Vieques
Wecall on the UN to suport the right for youth to live free of
violence
