About

Introduction

Welcome to the Youth Rights Advocacy Toolkit! This toolkit is the result of a partnership between the United Nations Human Rights Office, Education Above All Foundation and Silatech. The toolkit aims to empower young people to stand up for their rights.¹

Why a Youth Rights Advocacy Toolkit?

Throughout history, young people have been at the forefront of social movements, calling for, and often sparking social change. At the same time, youth activism is not always welcomed as a force for good, particularly where it is seen as a threat to the status quo and to well-established social norms, even if those norms perpetuate injustice and inequality and are used to justify the denial or even violation of human rights. Yet, making human rights a reality for all people is essential to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet in the present and the future agreed by the international community in 2015.   There is increasing recognition of the need to address young people’s human rights concerns, but change doesn't happen overnight and it is not the sole responsibility of youth activists, youth advocates or civil society to ensure young people can exercise their rights. Governments, the private sector and other stakeholders play a critical role as well; however, the present toolkit focuses on empowering youth in all their diversity to advocate for their rights, and particularly young people in situations of vulnerability or marginalization. The toolkit recognizes that meaningful youth participation at all levels and in all areas that affect young people’s lives are essential ingredients for youth leadership to promote youth rights.   A vast amount of information, resources and tools exist on human rights and young people. This toolkit does not seek to reinvent the wheel, but to gather the most important information in a single place, in an accessible, user-friendly way, and to point readers and users in the direction of additional resources to support them in their advocacy for youth rights.