© Credit – OHCHR

“Knowing our rights empowers us to act. Change is not as far away as it often seems. Every one of us can drive change from where we are,” said Avril Murillo, a young digital feminist activist from Bolivia.

“No one understands the urgency of change like young people do, especially those who’ve grown up watching their futures shrink under injustice,” added Yara Al-Zinati, a youth advocate from Gaza. “That’s why youth must stand up for their rights, to lead and shape a future where communities can thrive.”

For Kenneth Mulinde, from Uganda, young people have a responsibility to advocate for accountability and human dignity for all.

And for Constance Luk, a mental health advocate from Malaysia, connecting youth has the power to build a world free of discrimination and where communities support and care for each other.

Murillo, Al-Zinati, Mulinde and Luk were among a group of 45 young human rights advocates from around the world who participated in a Youth Rights Academy in Geneva on 7-11 July.

The Youth Rights Academy is the result of a partnership between UN Human Rights and and Qatar’s global foundation, Education Above All (EAA), aimed at empowering and mobilizing young people, particularly those living in situations of conflict and insecurity, to stand up for their human rights.

The partnership, implemented since 2022, has previously resulted in the development of the Youth Advocacy Toolkit, which was launched in September 2023 as “YES: Youth Empowerment System”, and laid the foundation for the Youth Rights Academy.

Since its beginning, the project has been guided by a Youth Advisory Board (YAB), a group of young human rights advocates from diverse countries and regions who offer feedback on the project’s overall direction and focus. Members of the second cohort of the YAB attended the Youth Rights Academy as participants, and also helped to design and facilitate some of its sessions.

The Academy brought together experts, including UN bodies and mandate-holders, and civil society organizations to equip young rights advocates with the knowledge and tools to defend and promote human rights in their communities.

The program included workshops on international human rights law and international humanitarian law, the right to education, the climate crisis, political participation, social media advocacy, and the protection of human rights defenders, among other topics.

https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2025/07/youth-rights-academy-learning-skills-lead-change-0

This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.