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Log in to YGA e-mail Welcome to the Young General Assembly
2002 Website!
The Young General Assembly
The Young General Assembly is a unique organization that it has been designed, developed, and established by charter by young people mostly 18 themselves. This global grassroots endeavour by young people is the only one that has resulted in an international organization. Three ongoing committees run the organization when the international meetings (like SSO) are not in session. The Secretariat's job is to carry out the mandates of the young people and serve as the records keeper and communications centre. The organization has no president or secretary general - just the 3 committees. The young people have worked carefully to have every voice carry the same weight. The only time the scales are tipped in favour is when it comes to voting on resolutions in meetings (like SSO). Then, only people under 18 can vote and they have the responsibility of making the final decision. This policy exists because the young people have set up a model in which people under 18 are shown respect for their capabilities. The Young General Assembly will cease to exist when every child is treated with respect and abuse and violence have totally ceased. For your information a part of the Young General Assembly Charter is below. The Charter was begun during an international meeting in San Francisco. The draft was presented to the Mayor of San Francisco on July 24, 1999 in a room directly across the street from where the United Nations was signed. The Mayor proclaimed July 24, 2049 to be Young General Assembly Anniversary Day in San Francisco. The charter writing continued by Internet conference. Children voted it into force on July 24, 2000 at 5:15PM. After the vote, the teenagers bolted out the room and headed for food. They didn't even recognize that they had made history or noticed the coincidence of the dates. :>) Please read the Preamble more than once.
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Acknowledge a child with respect today.
Be a model a child can respect.
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The Young General Assembly is:
*uniting the young people of the world in responsible action through the
projects designed by young people at the annual Young GA Sessions...
*serving as a respected voice for the world's children (people under 18)...
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YOUNG GENERAL ASSEMBLY CHARTER
PREAMBLE
In the name of love, unity and harmony, we, as global representatives of young people, feel empowered
to step forward through the door opened for us by the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1990 World Summit for Children, the 1995 World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond, the 1998 Braga Youth Action Plan, the 1999 Hague Agenda for Peace and Justice for the 21st Century, and
to exercise and perpetuate the values of peace, liberty, solidarity, equality, non-violence, respect for all human rights, respect for cultural diversity, justice, tolerance, dialogue, reconciliation, and
to prepare young people to be well informed and responsibly active leaders in today's world and to participate in mutually respectful partnerships with all peoples and governmental institutions to build a future in which everyone has the opportunity to develop his or her human potential, and
because we are convinced of our ability to contribute to the development and betterment of the present and the future, and to honor the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World, we create an international organization that will be a credible and recognized forum for young people to use as an instrument of international awareness to promote the Convention on the Rights of the Child so as to uphold those rights while recognizing all individual youth organizations do not necessarily endorse all aspects of this childrens rights agenda, we therefore commit ourselves to this Charter and encourage young people of all nations and languages from every culture to assume a role in the international organization known as the Young General Assembly.
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CHAPTER I - Purposes and Principles
Artical 1- Purposes
The purposes of the Young General Assembly are to:
1. raise awareness about world issues, children's issues, childrens needs, and childrens rights;
2. demonstrate that children are valuable partners in decision-making and solution-building;
3. facilitate and enhance the development of leadership skills so that children can take effective action in their own communities;
4. mobilize the world's children by working through member organizations to initiate projects to improve the quality of life at the local level and to monitor the progress of those projects;
5. act as a consultative forum for and work in cooperation with children worldwide, national governments, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, the United Nations and other organizations at all levels on issues that affect children;
6. provide delegations representing the Young General Assembly to international fora;
7. alert appropriate officials about children's emergency situations;
8. teach younger children about the Young General Assembly so they will carry on the Young General Assembly wisely;
9. inform and engage all children in a spirit of unity and cooperation through the observance of Hear the Children Day celebrated on the International Day of Peace; and
10. establish a network of national organizations which will share knowledge, resources and enthusiasm to bring about a world where everyone has the opportunity to develop her or his human potential.
CHAPTER II - Powers and Responsibilities
Article 2 - Principles
1. The Young General Assembly will operate in such a manner so as to harmoniously unite all national, lingual, cultural, racial and religious boundaries in order to promote individual and global peace.
2. The Young General Assembly is guided by and acts upon the principles of peace, justice, unity, harmony, love/respect, cooperation and understanding throughout the world, as well as the principles described in the United Nations Charter Preamble and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
3. The Young General Assembly and its member organizations will serve as models for children worldwide and will encourage them to be responsibly active local, national and global citizens.
The Young General Assembly adheres to the definition of a child as being a person under eighteen years of age as defined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Article 3 - Powers
The powers of the Young General Assembly organization are to:
1. discuss any matters affecting children's lives and to design and distribute project plans to member organizations to initiate to begin alleviating the issues discussed ;
2. make declarations to benefit the children of the world and distribute them worldwide;
3. propose bills and/or resolutions regarding children's rights and issues to national governments and international organizations;
4. offer consultative services to children's groups, national governments, the United Nations and international organizations and work in cooperation with these groups to bring about positive change;
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5. enter into partnerships with other organizations operating with similar goals;
6. discuss and determine the annual budget and/or financial actions pertaining to the Young General Assembly organization and the Young General Assembly committees;
7. encourage member organizations to prepare research papers on issues that affect children;
8. to call special Assembly Sessions other than the annual Assembly Session; and
9. receive and consider reports from Young General Assembly committees and member organizations as well as national organizations, national governments, the United Nations and its agencies, and international organizations.
Article 4 - Responsibilities
The responsibilities of the Young General Assembly organization are to:
1. conduct itself in such a manner so as to bring about respect for children's participation in society at the
local, national, regional and international levels;
2. honor its commitments made to its member organizations and any other organization;
3. encourage member organizations to work in cooperation within a nation and across national borders;
4. compose and distribute an annual report compiled from the annual reports of member organizations;
5. initiate studies and research about specific global children's issues;
6. update the Keeping the Promise Report once every five years;
7. work within specific areas of children's rights, but not to be limited to these areas, namely:
a. education
b. juvenile delinquency
c. girls and young women's rights
d. hunger
e. poverty
f. environment
g. health
h. child employment and labor
i. child combatants
j. child prostitution
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