IPU, Alm.del - 2009-10 - Bilag 9: Report, First Standing Committee. Preliminary draft resolution, Third Standing Committee.

(3)NotingUN General Assembly Resolutions A/RES/60/2 (2005) on Policies andprogrammes involving youth and A/RES/62/126 (2008) on Policies and programmes involvingyouth: youth in the global economy – promoting youth participation in social and economicdevelopment,(4)Recognizingthat children and young people are capable of forming their ownviews and should be assured the right to express those views freely in all matters affectingthem, the views being given due weight in accordance with their age and maturity, as set forthin Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989),(5)Also recognizingthat implementation of the UN World Programme of Action forYouth and achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including theMillennium Development Goals, require the full and effective participation of young peopleand youth-led organizations,(6)Declaringthat achieving meaningful democracy requires the full and activeparticipation of young people and youth organizations at the local, national, regional andinternational levels,(7)Recognizingthat young people are an active part of society and important actors ofnational development and that active citizenship of young people is key to building democraticand inclusive societies at all levels,(8)Determinedto combat all forms of discrimination against young people, includingthose based on race, colour, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion, national orsocial origin, property, disability, birth or other status which can make them vulnerable(migrant,refugee,etc.),andtopromoteequalopportunitiesforall,

(9)Stressingyoung people’s awareness of and commitment to human rights anddemocracy, the promotion of intercultural dialogue and understanding in a spirit that is respectfulof diversity, the combating of racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, intolerance and all actionsaimed at undermining democracy; andconsideringthe importance of their contribution to socialcohesion, especially by combating exclusion and preventing ills that affect young people inparticular,(10)Emphasizingthe need to prevent and counter all forms of discrimination on anygrounds, including discrimination based on age,(11)Bearing in mindthat youth participation promotes active citizenship, which should beconsidered as an opportunity for enhancing democracy and placing new issues on the politicalagenda,(12)Recognizingthe positive impact that youth participation in the local, regional andglobal economy and in social and economic development can have on the eradication of povertyand hunger, as well as on socially unacceptable and/or deviant behaviour,(13)Recognizing alsothat while youth today are better placed than ever before toparticipate in and benefit from global development, many young people remain marginalized,disconnected or excluded from the opportunities that globalization offers,(14)Underscoringthat the involvement of children and young people in public decision-making processes offers important opportunities for civic engagement, education and learningabout government, thus strengthening children’s and young people’s social responsibility anddeveloping their communication, negotiation and conflict-resolution skills and critical thinking,(15)Aimingto maximize young people’s contribution to the building of society, especiallyin all areas which concern them, encourage new forms of youth participation and organization,and train young people to assume responsibilities,(16)Reiteratingthe critical role of both formal and non-formal education in theempowerment of young people for democratic citizenship andrecognizingthe importance of theinformal education provided by youth organizations,(17)Highlightingthe importance of creating the conditions for genuine dialogue andpartnership between young people and local and regional authorities,(18)Recognizing youthparliaments, national and local youth councils, or their equivalentbodies as effective channels of cooperation and information exchange between young people,their national governments, parliaments, local councils and other decision-making bodies,(19)Mindfulof the importance of intergenerational solidarity and dialogue, and of thesignificance of family relations to young people,(20)Deeply concernedat young people's political apathy, lack of interest in politics anddisenchantment with politicians and political parties, which is a real threat to the future ofparticipatory democracy,

Calls onall States to take appropriate steps in accordance with the UN WorldProgramme of Action for Youth, to develop, in consultation with youth organizations,holistic and integrated youth policies;Urgesparliaments to monitor the fulfilment of their respective government'sobligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child to ensure children's rightto be heard and express their views freely and without discrimination based ongender, age, social background, ethnicity and disability;Recommendsthe development of national cooperative networkspolicymakers, researchers, young people and youth organizations;between

InvitesStates to encourage, promote and make more visible in all fields the initiative,enterprise and creativity of young people;Calls onparliaments, governments, IPU bodies and non-governmental organizations todevelop strong partnerships to scale up investments in youth and encourage youth-ledcontributions;Invitesthe IPU and States to include and keep youth participation high on theirpolitical agendas, in particular by providing the necessary financial means for itsdevelopment;Calls uponthe IPU and its Member Parliaments, youth organizations and otherrelevant stakeholders to strengthen efforts aimed at achieving appropriaterepresentation and participation of youth in decision-making bodies, bearing in mindthat girls, boys, young women and young men are entitled to the same rights;Invitesthe IPU, its Member Parliaments and States and to identify lines of action foryouth participation on which they intend to concentrate and to define concretemeasures and/or action plans for their implementation and promote these plans withregional and local authorities, youth organizations and young people and closelycooperate with regional and local authorities in order to ensure the fullest possibleimplementation;Encouragesthe IPU and its Member Parliaments to develop tools to promote youthparticipation, including, but not limited to, guidelines for participatory mechanisms orinteractive policy participation forums on the Internet;Calls onparliaments to develop practical measures, including quotas for youngpeople, to increase the participation of young people in parliament and otherrepresentative bodies, while respecting the values of human dignity, freedom,democracy and equality;Recommendsthat parliaments align the minimum voting age with the minimum age ofeligibility to run for office in order to ensure greater participation by youth inparliaments;UrgesStates to promote greater participation by girls and young women by takingmeasures to eliminate gender stereotypes, promoting role models and facilitatingbetter reconciliation of work and family life;

InvitesStates to open up "adult institutions" and administrative bodies, particularlythose with planning responsibilities, to young people's representatives and establishlinks between these institutions and young people in a spirit of complementarity andjoint decision-making;Callson States to ensure through national legislation and/or targeted actions theparticipation of young people in political parties and elections at the local, nationaland regional levels;Draws attentionto the importance of sufficient and sustainable funding of youthorganizations and other forms of youth activities and specific youth projects;Requestsparliaments to provide political and financial support with suitable operatingbudgets to form strong youth parliaments, youth councils or equivalent bodies and tostrengthen existing ones, thus providing further opportunities for more young peopleto become active in decision-making and in shaping their societies;Urgesall States to introduce compulsory courses in democracy and civic education inschools;EncouragesStates to ensure adequate funding for formal and non-formal education,including programmes aimed at fostering the acquisition of requisite skills by youth;InvitesStates to promote student participation and their initiative and creativity asvaluable resources in teaching, learning and other school activities, and to stimulatesactive citizenship via the education system;Also invitesall States to create all the necessary conditions to form student councils inschools through which students can acquire valuable first-hand experience indecision-making;EncouragesStates to ensure special training for teachers and other persons workingwith children and youth in youth participation and to implement best practices in thefield of youth participation;UrgesStates to ensure young women's equal access to education and vocationaltraining at all levels in order to provide them with equal opportunities for fullparticipation in society, especially political participation;EncouragesStates to introduce gender-sensitive compulsory courses for young men aspart of the school curriculum in order to nurture their consciousness of gender issues;Calls onStates to improve the ability of young people, including those who live inpoverty, to make a better transition into the world of work, enhance their access tothe changing labour market and facilitate their participation in cooperatives and otherforms of social, economic or financial enterprises in order to make their transitionfrom dependence to independence faster and more efficient;EncouragesStates to support voluntary work by youth and internship programmes andto recognize and evaluate skills and knowledge gained through these activities;

Recommendsthat States support voluntary-sector activities in local municipalities orregions in order to reach those young people who are not involved in activitiestargeting them or who feel excluded from the participation activities offered, and todevelop by every possible means voluntary work at all levels;Recommendsthe development of national information and communicationtechnology (ICT) strategies to overcome the barriers of distance and socio-economicdisadvantage and ensure that young people are equipped with the knowledge andskills they need to use ICTs appropriately, while also promoting the involvement ofyoung people in public debates, the creation of public opinion and the developmentof policy through ICTs;Callson parliaments to establish and promote coherent, overarching youthinformation strategies which, in a youth-friendly way, address all issues relevant toyoung people, to develop special web-based information and information centres foryoung people, and facilitate access to information for young people with feweropportunities;Further callson States to set up contact points for young people in ministries and othergovernment agencies to provide young people with information, listen to theirproblems, offer advice and encourage them in their quest for services andparticipation;Encouragespolitical parties to increase the number of young people in theirmembership and enhance young members’ participation in party life and decision-making;Invitesparliaments to facilitate the meaningful participation of children and youngpeople in consultation processes when drafting laws;Calls onparliaments to invite children and young people to participate inparliamentary hearings and ensure that they contribute to debates on policy- and law-making, questions regarding resource allocation and parliament's efforts to holdgovernment to account;Calls uponthe IPU and its Member Parliaments to form caucuses of youngparliamentarians for the purpose of promoting youth participation, making youngpersons in politics more visible and reflecting the youth perspective in the politicalagenda;Encouragesall elected parliamentarians and appointed officials at all levels to givemaximum support to young and/or newly elected or appointed persons, thus helpingto create a youth-friendly and accessible environment;Requeststhe IPU to consult, as appropriate, with youth-led and youth-focusedorganizations to ensure that various youth inputs are duly shared with IPU bodiesduring its deliberations;

Welcomesthe participation of young representatives in national parliamentarydelegations andurgesIPU Member Parliaments to consider being represented byyoung representatives on a continuous basis at IPU Assemblies and other IPUmeetings;Urgesthe IPU and its Member Parliaments to collect, on a continuous basis, youth-specific data disaggregated by age and sex in order to create comprehensive databasesrelated to youth and young parliamentarians, and to devise the means ofdisseminating such data widely so as to ensure that interest in youth development isinformed by sound and accurate data and to develop, assess and disseminate bestpractices in democracy education and youth participation;Requeststhe IPU to incorporate youth participation in its activities along the lines ofthe measures that have been taken to promote women's participation;Urgesthe IPU to establish mechanisms for the monitoring, analysis, evaluation andexchange of information on parliamentary action in the context of the promotion andimplementation of youth participation.