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PRIORITYMEASURE7
“Guarantee for all boys, girls, adolescents and young people, without any form of discrimination, the chance to live a life free from poverty and violence,
and to enjoy protection and exercise of their human rights, a range of opportunities and access tohealth, educationand social protection.”
Comments
This is a multidimensional priority measure targeting many and varied aspects that by definition apply to the reference age group (boys,
girls, adolescents and young people), such as: 1. Escape or avoid poverty; 2. Live free from violence; 3. Live free of discrimination;
4. Receive protection; 5. Exercise human rights; 6. Have options; 7. Have access to health care, education, decent work and social
protection. Most of these objectives are expressed in a very general way, which makes specific and concrete monitoring difficult. Given
this diversity of objectives and their generality, this priority measure can perhaps best be fulfilled by implementing other international
instruments and other priority measures of theMontevideo Consensus on Population and Development. Among the relevant international
instruments are: (a) the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (various articles of which are taken up in subsequent PMs); (b) the
Convention on the Rights of the Child (various articles of which are taken up in subsequent PMs); (c) the Ibero-American Convention on
theRights of Youth (various articles of which are taken up in subsequent PMs); (d) theUnitedNations System-wideAction PlanonYouth
(Youth SWAP), which focuses on five areas: employment and entrepreneurship; protection of rights and civic engagement; political
inclusion; education, including comprehensive sexuality education; and health; (e) MDG goals 1, 2 and 4; and (f) The targets of several
SDGs, including 1, 3, 4, 5, 10 and 16; in particular, 1.1: By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currentlymeasured
as people living on less than $1.25 a day; By 2030 end preventable deaths of newborns and under-five children; 3.7 By 2030, ensure
universal access to sexual and reproductive health care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the
integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes; 4.1: By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free,
equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes; 4.2: by 2030, ensure that all
girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary
education; 4.3: by 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable quality technical, vocational and tertiary education,
including university; 5.2. Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in public and private spheres, including trafficking
and sexual and other types of exploitation; 8.6: by 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or
training; 10.4. Adopt policies, especially fiscal, wage and social protection policies and progressively achieve greater equality; and 16.2.
End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence and torture against children. Among the prioritymeasures of theMontevideo
Consensus on Population and Development that will serve for implementing PM 7 are: PM 9 on investment, with the emphasis on
education; PM 10 on employment opportunities; PM 13 that includes several relevant lines of action, including one (number 2), which
proposes the provision of comprehensive oversight and support systems for adolescent mothers, wewell as real incentives for remaining in
school; andPM 16 on violence, harmonious coexistence and access to justice. The aspects referring to “exercise of rights” and to “range of
opportunities” are very general, but they can be considered achievable with implementation of all the priority measures relating to rights
and opportunities that apply to this group.With respect tooversight bodies andmechanisms, themost important are those that have binding
systems of accountability, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, for which its Committee on the Rights of the Child has been
operating since 1991 and in which 191 of the 194Member States of the United Nations participate. As well, UNICEF has key input to
offer in this area, and should play a leading role in promoting and monitoring this priority measure, particularly as it relates to children.
The same holds for the Ibero-AmericanYouthOrganization (OU) with respect to this prioritymeasure and its application and follow-up in
the case of adolescents andyoung people.
