Human rights through young eyes

Human rights through young eyes - By Jasmin

In a world like this, especially in these times, human rights mean more than anything, everywhere and anywhere.

But what do international human rights even mean? According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations, adopted in 1948 after the Second World War to ensure peace and protect human dignity, international human rights include:

  • Freedom for all (Article 1, 13, 19), including freedom of speech (Article 19)
  • Equality (Article 2, 7)
  • The right to life and liberty (Article 3)
  • Freedom from slavery and torture (Article 4, 5)
  • The right to work and have education (Article 23, 26)

For young people, human rights are not just abstract ideas but a reality. They shape our daily lives. Human rights are the difference between having choices in life and being trapped and living in danger.

Human rights mean a lot to the youth, since our human rights are being attacked more and more. For instance, abortion bans around the world, especially the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the United States in 2022. A ban like this endangers and threatens the lives of women. Many women everywhere don't have access to safe abortions, in extreme cases, not even in the case of rape. This marks a huge loss for human rights, since bodily autonomy and self-determination are fundamental human rights that every person is entitled to.

And we see that Gen Z doesn’t allow itself to be played, so they go out and protest. This shows how much human rights mean to young people, to our generation.

We are fighting for our rights; we are striking and protesting. These protests happen worldwide: the anti-ICE protests in Minnesota, the Gen Z protests in Nepal, which occurred last year, where young people confronted their country’s corrupt government; the protests in France in 2023 against the government’s pension reform, where hundreds of thousands of people participated; and the mass protests across Iran, which are still happening right now, where people have taken to the streets in dozens of cities demanding political and social change.

We, as young people, want the human rights we were promised, the ones we deserve.

The youth sees the attacks against their human rights and goes to extremes because of their desperation and political beliefs, in both ways, left and right. We see that the youth are not satisfied and yearn for their rights. We, as young people, feel that we are being overlooked and ignored.

The loss of the right to have an abortion. Freedom of speech is getting limited. War is getting closer to our borders, and of course, the youth are afraid and desperate, especially since politicians are not listening to us.

We, as young people, feel that our worries, fears, and wishes are being ignored. We are slowly losing our freedom of expression and self-determination, especially since many countries are now also considering compulsory military service for young men.

According to governments, young people owe them their lives, while young people want to live in peace, be healthy, and have a good life-work balance. Young people want to enjoy their lives and are fighting for them.

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