UN Resident Coordinator a.i. on the commemoration of 74th anniversary of the Universal Declaration for Human Rights

Speech of Mr. Dominik Bartsch, UN Resident Coordinator a.i.

In an event organized by the Amman Center for Human Rights Studies in collaboration with All Jordan Youth Commission event on the commemoration of 74th anniversary of the Universal Declaration for Human Rights

Your Excellency Eng. Musa Al Maaytah, Chairman of the Independent Election Commission,

Your Excellency Maria Hadjitheodosiou, Ambassador of the European Union Delegation to Jordan,

Distinguished participants, young change makers, ladies and gentlemen,

It is my great pleasure to speak to you today at this event celebrating Human Rights Day and the 74th anniversary of the Universal Declaration for Human Rights, and the graduation ceremony of the Amman Center for Human Rights Studies Youth Leadership Programme.

Back in 1948, following the devastation of the Second World War, the world took an enormous step forward with the creation of the Universal Declaration for Human Rights, which enshrines the rights of all human beings. To this day, the Declaration continues to inspire positive change towards a more equal and inclusive world for the benefit of us all.

And the world today is home to the largest generation of young people in history. In Jordan, 68% of the population are under 30 years old!

I am therefore happy to see here so many young actors involved in advancing human rights.  

Allow me to share with you one story of a young person who has inspired me greatly. The story of Muzoon Almellehan, a Syrian refugee and education activist. She was forced to flee her country in 2013, and despite a very difficult life in the Zaatari camp that time, she believed that education is a right for all girls.  She began advocating for girls’ education as part of a back-to-school campaign, during which she went tent to tent, speaking with the parents of children at risk of child marriage or child labour. Now she is a UNICEF good-will ambassador working around the globe,  advocating for the right to education! And she is one of many young advocates at your age or younger.

All young people have the right to participate in public affairs. This is enshrined in article 21 of the UDHR and article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The United Nations Youth Strategy 2030 recognizes young people’s agency, resilience and positive contributions as agents of change.

You have many tools at your disposal to be agents of change:

• The Jordan National Youth Strategy, the Political, Electoral and Economic Modernization Processes and many other strategies have you at the heart of change.
• You are connected to each other like never before.
• Many of you have the motivation or already contribute to the resilience of your communities, propose innovative solutions, drive social progress and inspire political change, in urban as well as rural contexts. And the story of Mozoon is just one testimonial to that.

But you also face incredible challenges and even life-threatening risks, disproportionately carried by girls and young women in many parts of the world.

Just last week, it was recognized that Jordan has become the most water stressed country in the world, just to mention one particular challenge which you are facing here.

The United Nations in Jordan is there to support you to identify the youth-specific barriers and challenges you face in accessing your human rights and to use this information to identify and advocate for actions that could facilitate your access to these rights.

The United Nations supports platforms through which your voice can be amplified, and your engagement can be advanced such as the Nahno.org volunteerism platform, the Jordan Civil Society Network for Displacement which brings different actors together in favor of the protection and assistance to displaced persons and in support of communities hosting them. And our United Nations Volunteer Programme supports national youth volunteers to serve with a United Nations entity to accelerate sustainable development and promote peace.

The United Nations in Jordan is also committed to enhance its efforts to promote human rights education and training for youth, as well as global citizenship and sustainable development education, without discrimination, to foster civic awareness and participation, volunteerism and a culture of peace and non-violence among young people.

In September this year, we established for the first time a UN Youth Advisory Council which consists of 13 young members, who advise us on the strategic opportunities and actions to address youth issues, they advocate for realizing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and human rights and bring some voices of youth in Jordan to the forefront.

I hope that you, as young leaders who benefitted from this Programme will also contribute to these endeavors.

Your active participation in the 2023 preparations for the upcoming Jordan Universal Periodic Review Process could be one first step to assess the implementation of human rights in Jordan and make concrete recommendations for the future.

Human Rights Day is an occasion to remind us ALL of the need to “Stand Up for Human Rights”, our rights and those of others, especially during times where the world is facing new and ongoing challenges.

We all have a role to play.

Together, we can realize “Dignity, Freedom and Justice for All”.