The International Youth Day is marked on August 12 globally every year with the aim to bring youth issues to the attention of the international community. This day gives an opportunity to celebrate and mainstream youth’s voices, actions, and initiatives. The day also demands for youths’ meaningful, universal and equitable engagement in all spheres of their lives that matter to them. The UN General Assembly established the Day on December 17, 1999, after it endorsed the recommendation made by the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth calling for 12 August to be declared International Youth Day.
The theme this year is ‘From Clicks to Progress: Youth Digital Pathways for Sustainable Development.’ The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres mentions, “Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals requires a seismic shift–which can only happen if we empower young people and work with them as equals.” This statement indeed depicts the importance of the youth towards achieving the current development paradigm—the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Development Goals.
Since there is no universally agreed international definition of the youth age group, the United Nations, without any prejudice, defines ‘youth’ as those persons between the ages of 15 and 24. It is estimated that there are about 1.2 billion people aged 15-24 that accounts for 16 percent of the global population. By 2030, the target date for SDGs that make up the 2030 Agenda, the number of youths is projected to grow by seven percent, to nearly 1.3 billion. Similarly, it is also estimated that half of the people on our planet are 30 or younger, and this is expected to reach 57 percent by the end of 2030. Nepal has approximately 20.8 percent of total population of 16-25 age group while 40.68 percent of the population are aged 16-40. Nepal has achieved demographic dividend for the first time in its history.
Youths are not a homogenous group since they are all not in the same stage of life. Their needs vary based on different factors. Take, for example, youth with disabilities. They are an appendage of the youth group and are part of human diversity. However, evidence shows that youth with disabilities are not taken into consideration by the mainstream youth rights movement for their full and effective participation on an equal basis with others. Youth with disabilities are among the most marginalized and poorest of the world’s youth population and are more likely to face several social, economic, and civic disparities as compared with those without disabilities, even in developed countries. Many youths with disabilities experience exclusion, isolation, and abuse as well as lack of education and economic opportunities on a daily basis. There is no data on the prevalence of youth with disabilities globally. However, it is estimated that a large number of them live in underdeveloped and developing countries.
Youth with disabilities are among the most marginalized and poorest of the world’s youth population and are more likely to face several social, economic, and civic disparities.
Youth and youth with disabilities are also not the homogenous group. There are huge diversities within youth with disabilities based on their caste, ethnicity, race, class, sex, gender, age, geography, types of impairments and degree of severity of their impairments, socio-economic status and so on. Thus, we need to take these facts into consideration while talking about youth. The youth rights movement in Nepal seems to be dominated by certain elite groups. The Nepali society is mainly caste-based and patriarchal. Caste based system is the founding structure of Nepali society. Hence, many youths are still compelled to experience intersectional discrimination in the society. Youth with disabilities face multiple barriers that exclude them from being included.
Barriers for youth with disabilities
One of the major barriers that youth with disabilities experience are systemic barriers. The existing system does not recognize youth with disabilities as potential contributors to the society and nation. Instead, they are always viewed from a ‘passive recipient’ perspective. Hence, it is very essential to break this barrier to create an enabling environment to promote their participation and inclusion on an equal basis with others.
Second, they face information, communication and technological barriers. Many youths with disabilities, those who are deaf and with hard of hearing including visually impaired, and other youth with disabilities who are with various types of impairments most often face the information, communication and technological barriers. Due to this barrier, they cannot participate in any kinds of conversations. Due to lack of adequate sign language interpreters, they are excluded from various opportunities. The current technologies are enabling access to the resources, facilities and opportunities to the youth who are with diverse abilities. But the major issue is accessibility.
Third, youth with disabilities also face physical and environmental barriers. The existing physical environment—particularly the built environment–is inaccessible to the youth with disabilities. Due to these barriers, youth with disabilities are experiencing exclusion in everyday life.
Fourth, though the National Youth Policy (2015) and Youth Vision (2025) have recognized youth with disabilities categorizing them under ‘special priority group youth,’ the understanding of those youth with disabilities from the human rights-based approach and developing programs and projects accordingly are not found yet. Due to lack of consistency and interlinkage among the existing policies and provisions in the case of youth with disabilities, they remain almost invisible everywhere—from policy discourse to the program planning, implementation, their monitoring and evaluations.
Fifth, they also face cultural barriers. Youth with disabilities have their own cultural background based on their caste, ethnicity, geography and religion. Indigenous youth with disabilities have their own language, culture and customs. Without recognition of their own language, culture, and customs, their participation in the society will be hardly possible. Similarly, the youth with disabilities from Muslim communities are not yet well recognized by the mainstream youth rights movements and the government. The youth with disabilities from sexual and gender minorities communities are even beyond the thinking of people. So, they face various cultural barriers to participate in society on an equal basis with others.
Besides, attitudinal barriers are one of the major barriers that youth with disabilities experience in everyday life from their own family members to the neighbors, society and the nation in general. Youth with disabilities are viewed as products of their sins in past life and thus they are treated more as objects. Youth with disabilities experience these attitudinal barriers almost everywhere, and they feel sometimes emotionally exhausted.
Inclusion is a key
The inclusion of youth with disabilities in mainstream youth rights movements along with various human rights movements and development programs is crucial. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development offer a plan to include youth with disabilities in all aspects of society and development. Digital accessibility plays crucial roles to enable all types of youth with disabilities to engage and contribute towards achieving the sustainable development goals. Thus, it’s imperative to ensure no youth with disabilities are not left behind on issues and agenda that matter to them.
(Krishna Gahatraj is a development professional with an expertise on human rights and disability inclusive development.)
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