Youth participation and perceptions at the United Nations DPI/NGO Conference on “Reaffirming Human Rights for All”

Abstract

Youth from diverse societies need to understand the importance of human rights and become involved in related projects that insure the human rights of peoples in local cultures worldwide. For this reason, it was particularly notable that young people from countries all over the world participated in the recent annual conference of non-governmental organizations accredited at the United Nations, that was held in Paris in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This paper reports on youth participation at that meeting, with particular emphasis on experiences of several young psychologists who attended and a group of student journalists who participated in the unique student journalism program under the auspices of the Conference Planning Committee composed of NGOs accredited with the UN Department of Public Information (DPI) as well as staff of DPI. Included are their definitions of the meaning of human rights, their role models, the youth caucus, narratives the young participants found most impactful, and their motivation for action and new life directions based on what they heard and shared. Examples are given of the students' journalism reports about the conference.

Keywords:

• youth human rights activism
• student journalism
• UN DPI NGO conference in Paris

Declaration of interest: The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of the paper.