Are we taking care of our youth?
Community-based research reveals gaps in the access to rights that young people (15 to 29) face in Edmonton today.
From September 2020 to September 2021, Roots4Change, a network of young people from diverse backgrounds, with the support of the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights (JHC) and Edmonton Community Foundation, embarked on a community-based research to explore and better understand the experiences of youth and their access to human rights in Edmonton, Alberta. Roots4Change designed and carried a mixed-method, two-fold research plan that included an online survey and a series of focus group discussions. The research revealed that state of access to rights for youth and children is rather concerning:
28.84% of young people surveyed reported experiencing food insecurity; 25.15% reported having insecure access to medicine; and more dramatically, 46.15% of young respondents in Edmonton reported having insecure access to recreational activities.
Between 43% and 75% of surveyed youth in Edmonton between 26 to 29 have no secure access to healthy food, medicine or recreational activities.
83.6% of respondents disagreed that the school curriculum included comprehensive sex education. Students described their sexual health education with words like vague, absent, biased, focusing on shame, abstinence and blame. Students also felt it was not inclusive, did not start early enough and did not include education on 2STLGB+ relationships or identity.
75% of respondents age 26 to 29 agree that perceived socio-economic status is a factor for discrimination in public spaces.
40.4% of respondents disagreed that they can express their beliefs and identity without fear of being persecuted or ridiculed.
Two years of the pandemic has further increased the limitations that existed prior and is putting many young people at risk of not accessing basic rights such as healthy food, medicine, housing and basic clothing and recreational activities. At least 20% of young people lack access to one of these basic rights.
“It is fundamental that the voices of young people collected in this report and the concrete “calls to action” on how to address the identified issues become a road map for governmental and not-governmental organizations alike. Young people have clear ideas on how their reality ought to be transformed,” Angelica Quesada, Director or Research and Evaluation
This research outlines the critical points and grounds on the voices of young people to guide the path on making sure they have access to rights as outlined in the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child; a document of which the Government of Canada and Province of Alberta have committed to under international law and which the municipality has an obligation as well. If you want to read the Roots4Change Report Executive Summary, please click here.
