"Will you join us? WILL YOU LISTEN?"
The presentation of the Youth Report gave young people the opportunity to share their stories and to express what they feel and think.
They demonstrated a tremendous energy and a strong will to fight for their futures and to have their demands heard.
To endorse our demands,
please click here! (Note: You will be taken to another website)
We want our rights to be respected
Wars are no excuse for violating our rights. We all have rights – orphans, the disabled, the imprisoned, street children, girls and boys, children from remote villages, all of us – and we ask you to raise awareness of these rights and to promote them. We want to learn more about our rights so that we can demand them. We want our parents, teachers, people from communities, development organizations and government offices to be trained on children’s rights so that they can respect and protect them.
We want justice and to be safe from violence
We want strict laws to protect us from being used as soldiers, bush wives and slaves or otherwise exploited during wars. We also want strict laws against those who sexually abuse and violate us. Make sure that anyone who uses us in these ways is severely punished. Please make sure that not one of them goes free. We want safe, confidential and accessible means for girls and boys to report violence, harassment and exploitation. When there are wars, we want safe spaces and “conflict-free” zones where we can continue to learn and play.
We want to learn
We want you to quickly rebuild the schools that have been destroyed and to build new ones where there are no schools. Train more teachers – especially female teachers – in our communities so that all of us can get the attention we need in class. We want special catch-up classes for those of us who have missed years of school because of the wars. We want free educational materials, libraries, laboratories and computers so we can all get a quality education that will prepare us for the challenges of today’s world. We want all schools to be free for all of us.
We want to be healthy
We want hospitals or health clinics to be rebuilt or established in all our communities. We want medicines and medical staff to be available at these hospitals and clinics. The services must be friendly to us and free of cost. All girls and boys must have equal access to a full range of health information and services. Please make sure that services include a complete reproductive health package and support to those of us who have survived rape and exploitation.
We want jobs and a means to survive
We want relevant training for those of us who are old enough to work so that we can find safe jobs for ourselves and be useful to our communities. For those of us who are younger, we want jobs for our parents so they can take care of us. We want technical and vocational training institutions in all our communities that will lead to real jobs. For those of us who have missed out on school, the vocational and livelihood trainings should also teach us how to read, write and do math. We also need the right tools and machines to apply our skills.
We want more support and care for the excluded and forgotten
Those of us who are orphans, street children, children with disabilities, imprisoned children and child heads of households cannot be forgotten any longer. We need to receive food even if we can’t go to the places where you distribute it. We need to have equal access to health services, free of all costs. We need to go to school for free at all levels and be trained in relevant skills. And because we remain children, we need special, accessible, recreational facilities. We want equal opportunity for girls and boys alike. We want to be treated equally and given the same chance to learn and develop our potential.
We just want to be children
We want programs to heal our minds from the trauma of the experiences we have been through and to keep us away from violence, drugs and other crimes. These programs and services must give all of us greater opportunities to play and participate in recreational activities like sports, cultural activities and other non-formal activities. We want these programmes to last long enough to give us opportunity to re-build our lives.
We want to participate
We want to reach out and help other children, in our communities, children from other parts of the conflict, or children in other countries. We want you to support our groups, organizations, networks and parliaments in our work and efforts to contribute to change
We want more opportunities to take part in making decisions that affect us
We ask that you empower us and our organizations – our youth councils, networks, groups and organizations, children’s parliaments and other youth-driven groups – to be able to meaningfully take part in all decisions that affect us. We do not want to be called in when you have already made the decisions. We want to work hand in hand with you.
