UN-backed education project ‘will leverage the power of young people

A Youth Rights Academy is just one element of a United Nations-backed project dedicated to transforming young lives through education.

Education Above All (EAA) is a Qatar-based foundation that is working with UN Human Rights to ‘leverage the power of young people’ by safeguarding and promoting their basic rights.

It is particularly focused on those young people facing conflict and situations of vulnerability.

The aforementioned new Youth Rights Academy programme will, says the foundation, bring young leaders together to focus on ‘thought leadership and human rights advocacy’, by providing human rights training and an environment conducive to debate and collaboration.

This collaborative project, it adds, ‘seeks to empower and build the capacities of young people and youth organizations in a range of countries and regions, especially those facing conflict and situations of vulnerability’. The primary focus is on protecting and advancing the right to education, a critical component for the well-being and future prospects of youth in challenging environments.

Imma Guerras Delgado, Coordinator, Child and Youth Rights Unit for UN Human Rights, said: “We are delighted to continue our partnership with Education Above All, and to empower young people around the world to know and claim their human rights, for a better world.”

‘Active, fearless and resilient’

A cohort of young leaders will also be established for the EAA-UN Human Rights Youth Advisory Board, which was launched in 2022 and featured 10 young human rights advocates from Uzbekistan, Guatemala and Latin America, Europe, Middle East and North Africa, Western Africa and Eastern and Southern Africa. The former board has already created the draft Youth Rights Advocacy Toolkit, which is available in Arabic, English, French and Spanish.

Consultations were held with young people across the world, from  to develop the toolkit to help them, including those living in marginalised communities, to stand up for their human rights.

Ahmad Hajaree, a youth advocate for Education Above All, said: “We have a generation of youth who are active, resilient, and fearless. The toolkit is a collection of resources for youth to use in order to strategise how they want to do their advocacy.

“It’s really a one stop shop for youth to be able to know exactly how to get their message out there in the best way possible. We want young people to get their voices heard,” he added.

Click here for more information on the EAA-UN collaboration.