Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network (MYAN Australia) has prepared this advocacy brief to support the inclusion of youth1 rights and needs in the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR). UNHCR’s Global Youth Advisory Council (GYAC) has provided input and endorsed the brief in December 2017. The GYAC has also prepared a paper presenting recommendations on the GCR. The GYAC paper and MYAN brief are complementary and should be read alongside each other.
This brief is intended for use by young people, civil society and others in advocating for the recognition and inclusion of refugee3 youth rights in the GCR – to ensure that refugee youth are adequately protected and empowered. It includes a comprehensive set of recommendations – intended to be used by UNHCR and others in drafting the GCR Programme of Action and also by all stakeholders in the consultation process on this draft, that will take place in early 2018.
It provides context for the focus on youth rights in the GCR and draws on the outcomes of the Global Refugee Youth Consultations (GRYC), including the seven Core Actions for Refugee Youth (Core Actions) – developed through the GRYC – as an important ‘roadmap’ for strengthening the protection of and empowering refugee youth in the GCR.
MYAN is committed to ensuring that the rights, needs and voices of refugee youth are included in dialogue and decisions in the development of the GCR, and that their rights and particular needs are addressed in the Programme of Action.