Human Rights Council 52 Annual Panel Discussion
The Secretary-General of IMCS-MIEC Pax Romana, Victor Ayertey participated in the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council Annual high-level panel discussion on human rights mainstreaming as a sign of support for the representative, Christine Salloum, of the International Coordination Meeting of Youth Organizations (ICMYO). She represents ICMYO within the High-level Steering Committee of the United Nations Youth Strategy 2030. The theme panel was “A reflection on five years of the United Nations Youth Strategy (Youth 2030): mapping a blueprint for the next steps”. And during the panel session, the ICMYO representative shared some highlights about the challenges and the best ways to ensure accountability for meaningful participation, and partnership, from the youth perspective when it comes to implementing the UN Youth Strategy.
Christine stated that “For young people, to be accountable and take responsibility towards society means that one must exercise the right to be part of the decision-making process, to work in partnership with decision-makers and boards and be fully engaged. And acknowledging the importance of youth needs assessment from our knowledge, experiences, and perspective of youth helps in addressing the issues of the highest priority. Most importantly, the recognition of the value of investing in and empowering youth is unavoidable. Youth accountability is part of community engagement and the overall accountability that we need to achieve the Youth 2030 strategy. It is a way of working that recognizes and values community members as equal partners and the statement of working with and for youth. It makes sure their opinions are heard and used to design and guide the results and goals. Equal and equitable access to funding by youth organizations to build youth capacities and promote youth rights to ensure meaningful participation across all UN systems. More youth should have the opportunity to participate in the HRC processes and mechanisms.
In addition, some speakers also shared their concerns to reiterate that today’s young people are facing multiple challenges, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a need to strengthen the partnership with young persons to achieve positive transformative change. Notwithstanding these challenges, young people were important agents of change, with enormous capacity to change the world for the better, and yet, globally, they faced enormous challenges to achieving their human rights. The United Nations had an obligation to provide a safe future, and in order to make progress in these areas, the United Nations Youth Strategy was a positive step to provide means to allow young people to participate in decision-making for their future”.
In sum, Christine advocated that there should be the presence of young people in future sessions of the Council. And IMCS-MIEC Pax Romana continues to advocate for young people’s participation, collaboration and involvement in the decision-making process, implementation and evaluation of projects spearheaded by United Nation Agencies.
Note: IMCS-MIEC Pax Romana is a member of the network of youth-led organizations under the umbrella of the International Coordination Meeting of Youth Organizations (ICMYO).
On the Environment Agenda
On the environment agenda, IMCS Pax Romana joined the Geneva Environment Network (GEN) for “Human Rights and the Environment: HRC52 Information Sharing Session” at the International Environment House. The Secretary-General, Victor Ayertey, represented the Movement during the session as we continue to champion the healthy environment agenda. As such, we hoped that #HRC52 will take pragmatic decisions to address the issues of climate change, from the #humanrights perspective, towards a healthy environment for all, and our concerns of young people.
The broader push is to highlight interlinkages between human rights and environment issues, particularly as seen in “pure consensus” decision to include the Right to Healthy Environment at climate change #COP27 and biodiversity #COP15. Information from UNEP indicated that they have been working more on human rights issues, underscoring their engagement at #HRC52, including the launch of handbook on engagement with human rights mechanisms and Stocktaking of recommendations of treaty bodies, Universal Periodic Reviews (UPR) and Human Rights Council on environmental issues.
It includes reviewing the reports of actions taken by member countries and many other organizations such as the NGOs, Inter-governmental and International Organizations, and assessing the future possibilities based on the resolutions for the environment from the human rights perspective.
Global Study Session & World Assembly
According to the statutes of IMCS/MIEC Pax Romana, its World Assembly, the highest decision-making body of the Movement, is scheduled to take place this year.
- Theme: “Global Climate Emergency – Capacity building of tertiary students to be advocates for environmental, social, cultural, political and economic justice”
- Venue: International Youth Training Centre (IYTC), Chiang Mai, Thailand
- Date: 3rd to 9th of July 2023
Considering the threat of climate change to all life and mother earth, IMCS Pax Romana through the theme as mentioned above shall conduct global study session in response to the emergency. Within the precincts of the Global Study Session, IMCS Pax Romana is expecting to achieve the following objectives through its collaborations;
- Awareness building on climate change and global climate emergency
- Equipping participants with necessary analytical tools for understanding issues
- Skill building to respond to climate change-related issues
- Creating a global plan of action of 4 years
- Getting the members of IMCS network and partner networks engaging in local, national and international climate change advocacy and actions.
The study session shall be followed by the statutory session which provides the necessary guidelines to Global Catholic Tertiary students to make the organizational decisions. This session is considered an Assembly and the following are some of the objectives to be achieved through the statutory session.
- Election of International President, Secretary General and Ecclesiastical Assistant.
- Evaluating IMCS Pax Romana as a Movement and making necessary decisions for addressing the issues and the needs of the Movement at National, Regional and International levels for the coming 4-years.
- Reviewing IMCS General Statutes and making necessary amendments.
- Designing and approving IMCS Pax Romana Plan of Action 2024 – 2027
As a Movement, we understand that “Climate change is an existential threat to all life and the earth”, and we cannot stress this enough. Hence, to reinforce our climate actions, and set in motion strategies we’re gathering students and partners in Chiang Mai, Thailand in July.
For further information about sponsorship, participation or collaboration, kindly contact IMCS-MIEC Pax Romana via office.imcsmiec@gmail.com or office@imcs-miec.org
