Statement of the Non-Governmental Organizations Coalition for Youth and Family

By Charmaine Graves

Over 100 delegates from countries around the world met in Lisbon, Portugal August 7-13, 1998 to finalize the UN Youth Charter. The document was designed to further the rights of youth. Youth rights as defined in the Charter, however, included "reproductive rights" and the right to "legal, safe, and effective" methods of "family planning," and excluded any positive reference to parental rights or the family.

To provide a strong pro-family voice, pro-lifers at the conference joined forces in a Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) Coalition for Youth and Family. The Coalition represented 15 NGOs spanning 46 countries and four continents, and included a large number of outstanding young pro-life leaders.

The Coalition for Youth and Family worked with concerned delegates to strengthen the text in favour of the family. Although "reproductive rights" remained in the final document, a reference to the family was added to the document's preamble. In addition, the document's official appendix contained pro-family recommendations due to the constant interjections of the Coalition's members. Individuals from the Coalition spoke out during working groups, and especially during an important plenary session of the conference, in which the Coalition for Youth and Family presented a statement to delegates from around the world.

Speaking on behalf of the Coalition for Youth and Family, Campaign Life Coalition representative Charmaine Graves gave the following speech on the rights of parents as the primary educators of their children.

Mr. Chairman, distinguished delegates,

Thank you for allowing me to address this important gathering. I am here to represent a coalition of 15 NGOs located on four continents. Our purpose here is to speak out on a critical element concerning the health of youth. We voice our support of the family, the fundamental social unit of society.

We are gratified to see that the Lisbon Declaration contains positive references to the family. We appreciate statements of support on behalf of the family by distinguished representatives from Guatemala, the United States, the Holy See, and others. We admit, however, that we are disappointed with the declaration's failure to address the central role played by the family -- particularly parents -- in preparing youth for successful adulthood and protecting them from health-related risks. Some would conclude that parental efforts to pass on moral and religious values to their children are inappropriate. However parental values conflict with the wish to give explicit information and counselling about sex and reproductive health services to minor children.

Most men and women with whom our NGOs work on a grassroots level, are or will someday become parents. Like my own mother and father, they understand that as parents the primary responsibility for the education of children lies within the family, because families best understand the needs of their own. When parents are empowered to fulfill their responsibilities, it provides an immeasurable benefit for society that no program or agency can surpass.

It is indeed amazing to reflect that less than seven days ago, youth and UN agencies drafted a statement, the Braga Youth Declaration, that failed to provide appropriate support for the family or parents. In fact, with regard to health, it specifically omitted reference to parental rights or any reference to marriage or family.

My parents, and all parents, deserve your support. They deserve your support for at least two reasons. First, because they are right for the job, and, second, because they have rights.

The overwhelming weight of scientific authority confirms that my parents, and parents worldwide, are the right place to focus when considering the health of their children. Just this February, at the Commission for Social Development, Mr. Pino Arlacchi, Executive Director of the U.N. Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, reported on studies from across the world showing that youth are safest from drug abuse when parents fulfill their, quote "traditional supervisory roles." It is the weakening of parental bonds -- even more than poverty -- that drives young people to drug use.

In recent years, studies have shown repeatedly that parental love, more than any other factor, protects youth from risks associated with irresponsible sex and from violence. Studies also show that the protective effect is the strongest when parents' lives are guided by sincere religious values, and when the parents pass these values on to their children. Yet parents' religion has been criticized by a few at this conference as an obstacle to be circumvented.

Furthermore, the right of parents to guide the education of their minor children -- particularly their moral and religious education -- is a fundamental human right. This right is spelled out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. In fact, under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, these parental rights are prior rights.

Yet, some behave as if these documents have never been written when the rights of parents are being discussed. How can this be? For example, the regulation of sexual behavior is an essential element of all the world's great religious and moral systems, and therefore falls squarely within the parents' rights. Such rights are spelled out in these primary human rights documents.

We are not suggesting that sex education, counselling or services are never appropriate for youth. We are simply saying that when minor children are involved, the parents' fundamental rights to decide what is appropriate must be respected. There will be some neglectful parents who will waive that right and would rather leave these matters to someone else. There will even be a small minority of bad parents who forfeit that right. In these hard cases, intervention will be necessary.

But we cannot -- while focusing on the hard cases -- forget that in the majority of cases there are parents who love their children and want to look after their welfare. In the majority of cases, these parental rights must be respected. They must be respected for one essential reason: Youth are better off. Research and experience confirm over and over again that youth are at less risk when parent and child bond and, in Mr. Pino Arlacchi's words, the "parents' . . . traditional supervisory role" is left intact.

Any efforts to intrude into these most important of human relationships will weaken them and therefore will -- as all the research shows -- make the problems of youth worse, not better.

On behalf of the NGO Coalition for Youth and Family, I appeal to this distinguished gathering to be continually mindful of parents and their children -- the family. Please make sure that in all your fine efforts to address the problems of youth, you strengthen the primary protector of youth -- the family.

Thank you.