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Human Rights

The European Youth Forum is committed to ensuring the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all young people in Europe. Indeed, the well-being of young people and youth autonomy cannot be achieved without the fulfilment of human rights for young people such as the right to decent employment, the right to education, the right to achieve the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, the freedom of association, the freedom of expression, the freedom of religion and belief, and the freedom of movement.
Furthermore, the YFJ strives to achieve equality for all young people in Europe and to fight against discrimination on the grounds of age, which still represents a burden on their lives. The YFJ also firmly opposes any other form of discrimination, racism and intolerance and aims at combating the intersection between age and other grounds of discrimination such as ethnicity, religion and belief, disability, sexual orientation, sex, gender and gender identity which produces specific forms of discrimination having a very negative effect on the lives of young people.
 
In 2009-2010 the YFJ is going to focus further on achieving equality for all young people in Europe by following policy processes aimed at fighting against discrimination both at the European and the international level. Furthermore the YFJ will be striving to make youth organisations more inclusive by building their capacity in reaching out further to young migrants, whose concerns are not still effectively voiced in Europe and by empowering young migrants to make them more willing and self confident to speak against violations of their rights. To this aim the YFJ will also be supporting and facilitating the establishment and the development of networks representing young migrants.

As part of its constant lobby work the European Youth Forum (YFJ) strives to ensure mobility for all young people within the European Union and between EU and non-EU countries. Mobility is a basic condition for the full participation of young people in society, for developing their competence and enabling them to fully take up opportunities in the field of non-formal education. The YFJ works towards overcoming visa-related obstacles to enhance the mobility of young people and overcome hierarchies of rights and opportunities according to nationality and/or resident status, which currently exist and which are unacceptable.
 
In 2009-2010 the YFJ is going to follow up on policy processes related to visa issues and in particular on the establishment of a Community Code of Visa. The YFJ is also going to take up the opportunity to provide inputs to other relevant EU processes focusing on mobility in specific areas of life relevant to young people such as education, training and employment.

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