A/HRC/35/7 potential to champion not only their own rights, but also those of disadvantaged and marginalized groups. 13. The President of the European Youth Forum welcomed the initiative to convene the panel discussion taken by the Human Rights Council and expressed hope that the Youth Forum would be able to work with the Council in changing the realities for young people in the world. She noted that more than 500 million young people aged between 15 and 24 lived on less than $2 a day, and that some 126 million young people were illiterate. She also noted that, according to estimates by the International Labour Organization, in 2016 more than 40 per cent of the world’s active youth population was expected to be either unemployed or living in poverty despite being employed. She noted that youth affected by migration were particularly vulnerable to human rights violations. In their daily lives, young people encountered multiple discrimination based on their age, gender, disability, ethnic origin, religious beliefs, sexual orientation and gender identity, and young people were often shut out of politics or criminalized for speaking out. She emphasized that the current generation of young people, in spite of being the largest, perhaps the most highly educated, technically advanced and mobile generation in history, was being left behind due to a lack of political will. 14. Recognizing that young people were being denied their rights due to age-based discrimination, it was time to act for youth. Specific points for action included: (a) comprehensively defining the realities and obstacles young people faced in claiming their rights by preparing a report mapping those obstacles; (b) establishing a special procedure on the human rights of young people; (c) requesting the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in cooperation with youth-focused United Nations stakeholders, to develop guidelines directing States in implementing a rights-based approach to youth policies; (d) urging the Council to invite all treaty bodies to develop a joint general comment or statement on youth, thus underlining the indivisibility of all human rights for young people; and (e) mainstreaming youth rights in existing human rights mechanisms, such as addressing them through the universal periodic review by involving youth organizations in national consultations and giving visibility to the submissions made by youth organizations. 15. The representative of the Asociación Tierra de Jóvenes said that a young person living and working on the streets in El Salvador would, as a result of being recognized as an adult on turning 18, suddenly lose their access to several social protections provided by institutions only to those under 18 years of age. A large number of young people living on the streets were taken to institutions, but when they no longer qualified for that support at the age of 18 and were released, many of them were recruited by notorious Central American gangs within two years. Furthermore, adults tried to take advantage of them due to their ignorance, lack of resources and inability to defend themselves. For example, a young windscreen washer renting a room could pay as much rent as a middle-class family renting a house, due to financial need and the requirement to pay a premium amount on a daily instead of a monthly basis. Many such young people remained employed in the informal sector, due to the low wages and poor treatment experienced in formal sector jobs, and as a result of their lack of social contacts, which were often necessary to gain decent formal sector employment. 16. Young people wanted justice, but many of them were marginalized and did not have the opportunity to seek justice. There was a need to eradicate corruption in the judiciary, and for a fairer society in which human rights were respected. There was a lack of coordination among institutions established to assist young people and protect their rights, and their efforts were often insufficient or duplicated. He called upon States to help create mechanisms for the coordination of organizations advocating for the protection of human rights at the national level, both within and beyond El Salvador. Young people’s access to services needed to be facilitated and improved in order to protect and fulfil their human rights. There was a need for change that was for young people and driven by young people. At 25 years old himself, he shared his story of empowerment through volunteering, and called upon States to recognize the value of efforts aimed at empowering young people. Governments should understand that young people asking for their human rights were not 5