The youth delegates are getting ready to participate at the UNGA 2011, The swedish YD reports on the High Level Meeting on Youth and Benson Saulo, the Australian YD, presents himself!

Click on the 'read more' button to read the newsletter. 

Enjoy!

She looked at me with big, serious eyes. ‘You are the Dutch youth delegate, right?’. In the five minutes that followed those big eyes became very inspiring. They eyes were from a woman who was following the negotiations on the youth resolution and was working for a UN agency. She told me that I should not stop repeating the position of The Netherlands and so many other countries in the negotiations. We were calling for one set of indicators for the World Programme on Action for Youth, an important issue which was raised two years ago but for which no action was taken since then. ‘Don’t let them take the floor and let them weaken down the language again and again without a response. Don’t let them do that. Keep the pressure on’, she pressed me upon my heart. ‘We have waited long enough’.

Hey Elizabeth, tell us about yourself.

My name is Elizabeth Shaw and a 24 year old Australian Youth Delegate for 2008. I have recently finished degrees in Law and Arts, and have been working as a legal assistant to the State Solicitor for Western Australia. I have had a lot of experience in youth advocacy and representation, having served as the Chair of the City of Perth Youth Advisory Council, the President of the UWA Law Students’ Society, the Editor of the UWA Student Newspaper Pelican, and as an Editor of the UWA Law Review. I am particularly passionate about youth participation, social inclusion, the advancement of women, the role of the media and closing the gap in indigenous health and education.

How were you selected as a youth delegate for your country?

Bakhtiyar Hajiyev was Azerbaijani youth delegate to the United Nations in 2005.

Recently he called for a march via a Facebook-group and was then arrested.

Bakhtiyar might face 2 years jail time. He is badly beaten and Azerbaijan´s governement is not allowing doctors to see him. His lawyers are prohibited to talk to press.

The police has Bakhtiyar's phone and it is open. Please write to the police and ask them to allow doctors to see Baxtiyar. A simple text might save his life by simple letting police know that world is watching. The cell phone number is: 450.644.113 .
 
The youth delegates to the United Nations call upon everyone to kindly send letters, email and call Azerbaijan´s governement representatives in your country and in EU inquire about this injustice.

The Youth Delegates to the United Nations

The only resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly that  specifically mentions sexual orientation was evaluated again November 16th 2011. The resolution  addresses extrajudicial killings. Member States are requested to protect  their citizens and quickly investigate all extrajudicial killings  committed for a number of reasons listed. On the initiative of the OIC (Organization of  the Islamic Conference) and with the support of the African Group, the  reference to sexual orientation was removed.
We youth  delegates thought that this was unaccatable and therefore demanded in an  open letter, supported by numerous nongovernmental organizations and  politicians, all member states to continue including  "sexual orientation" as a reason to be protected against extrajudicial  killings in this resolution.

On February 14th the International Youth Delegates held at side event at the German Mission together with the UN Programme on Youth (DESA). The theme of the side event was „More than just an opportunity – Youth Delegate Programs to the United Nations!“.
After listening to several inspiring speakers, Ms. Lindblom, DESA & Ravi Karkara, UNICEF, and to best practice examples from Slovakia and Germany there was a fruitful open discussion concerining the better implementation of Youth Delegate Programs at the United Nations.

On Tuesday, 5 October 2010 the Youth Delegates to the United Nations General Assembly met Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. The Meeting has become a tradition over the last years and is an opportunity for both sides - while Ban Ki Moon is listening to the opinions and input from youth representatives from all over the world, the meting proves a high recognition of the Youth Delegate's work at the General Assembly.

After the group pictures the Youth Delegates had the chance to take individual pictures with his Excellency. If you want to see more pictures, you will find them here

It is appalling that the UN is so very far behind in LGBT issues.

The only resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly that specifically mentions sexual orientation was evaluated again this Tuesday, November 16th. On the initiative of the OIC (Organization of the Islamic Conference) and with the support of the African Group, the reference to sexual orientation was removed.

The resolution addresses extrajudicial killings. Member States are requested to protect their citizens and quickly investigate all extrajudicial killings committed for a number of reasons listed. Two years ago, sexual orientation was included in the list when Sweden led the negotiations of this resolution.

The introduction of the reference to sexual orientation was an initial success in the enforcement of human rights for LGBT people. Now the UN is taking one step back. This is unacceptable!

Therefore we demand all member states to include "sexual orientation" as a reason to be protected against extrajudicial killings in this resolution!