Letter of Recife

We, as adolescents and youth representing 12 countries, would like to recognise the progress made with regards to public policies that are impacting children and youth in our countries.

We acknowledge that:

• Every country represented here recognised the rights of children and youth, and has signed the International Convention on the Rights of the Child;
• Many of our countries have been making great efforts to provide better health services for children;
• Many policies and programs are focused on strengthening and valuing local culture, diversity, and promoting gender equality;
• There are peace building initiatives in schools to fight bullying;
• There are many civil societies and government efforts to prevent domestic violence which affects children and youth;
• NGOs have built programs and initiated projects to train and build the capacity of youth.

However, despite this progress, children and young people still do not have the minimum necessary conditions for reaching their full potential, due to:

• Lack of appropriate health conditions, which leads to hunger, malnutrition, HIV/AIDS and drug abuse;
• Violence issues such as neglect, domestic violence, sexual exploitation and abuse, child labour, violence against women, drug trafficking, high levels of suicide amongst teenagers and youth, bullying, prejudice and discrimination against visible minorities. All of these are making children and youth vulnerable;
• Lack of investment in education and economic development. This leads teenagers and youth to experience many difficulties in their professional development and may force people to migrate. This also leads to a high level of youth unemployment and to precarious and/or bad labour conditions.

Therefore, we recommend:

• Enhancement of health conditions for children and young people through a universal public health systems that priorities children, attention of authorities to youth that are addicted to drugs, investment in public policies and programs focusing reproductive and sexual health of young people;
• Strengthening the technologies of small rural farmers, which enables access to proper nutritional development of children;
• Investment in public policies focused on education, promotion of actions against bullying and better university access for youth;
• Policies promoting better inclusion of youth in the job market, jobs with secure legal conditions and more services, and opportunities  for youth living in rural communities;
• Encouraging and recognising the cultural contribution of youth within their cultures, so that youth may obtain income for their work;
• More opportunities for children and youth participation in planning, building and monitoring public policies, with equal rights and participation for girls and boys;
• Prioritisation of policies that attend to the needs of ethnic minorities.

We reaffirm our commitment to fight for a world without violence and with more opportunities for children and young people, and we request the attention of Brazilian authorities, as well as from our respective countries, for the requests above, certain of your commitment.

Young people from World Vision Cup football tournament

May, 2014