World Forum 2010 - Youth Declaration
By Adam Diamond and Jade Maitland, YouthCAN

INTRODUCTION

Over 40 young people from around the world participating in plenary sessions, youth workshops, networking sessions, and other activities at the International Forum for Child Welfare World Forum 2010. The diverse group of youth drafted a Youth Declaration, produced through an all-inclusive, interactive process. The Declaration was presented at the World Forum closing ceremony, assuring that the perspective of the youth was incorporated into the overall impact of the conference. Central to the youth program was the creation of a documentary, which was produced on-site by a team of youth participants. This documentary will air later this year in New York on a public TV youth channel.

YOUTH DECLARATION

"Giving someone fish will feed them for one day, but teaching someone to fish will feed them, their family, and their communities for a lifetime."

We, the youth need to be treated with respect. We should not just be recipients of charity, but instead have an active say in the determination of our futures. We need the system to value quality based results as opposed to quantity. Look at each youth as an individual, not as a statistic. Talk with us, not about us, considering our different stories holistically.

1. We demand that all children and youth be entitled to basic needs including shelter, nutrition, health care, love, and emotional support.

2. We the youth demand that all young people globally should be treated equally regardless of race, religion, creed, nationality, immigration status, or sexual orientation. Youth should not be addressed as "at risk", but instead as "at potential".

3. We demand that all young people should have equal access to education resources including schooling, life skills, and mental health.

4. Empower us by giving us the tools to make a difference to our futures. It should be required for all organizations affecting young people to include youth representation in all their major decision making processes.

5. We the youth need to be included in current governmental decision making processes because OUR futures will be impacted by current policy changes. We should be able to hold current decision makers accountable.

6. We the youth demand that issues concerning Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender youth are addressed. It is also important to note that LGBT youth should not have to be a separate category since that is inherently discriminatory.

We the youth call upon the adults to join us in making this a world truly fit for children and adults working inter-generationally.

Allow us to make this a world truly our own; a world filled with love where each child is everyone‘s child; where parents and their children can be friends, where men and women are treated as equals, where, where no one is judged for being who they are by society. Assist us in building a world where our rights are truly entitlements and not privileges.

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