A/RES/50/81
Page 23
3.
Rehabilitation services and programmes
90. Destitution, poor living conditions, inadequate education, malnutrition,
illiteracy, unemployment and lack of leisure-time activities are factors that
marginalize young people, which makes some of them vulnerable to exploitation
as well as to involvement in criminal and other deviant behaviour. If
preventive measures address the very causes of criminality, rehabilitation
programmes and services should be made available to those who already have a
criminal history. In general, youth delinquency begins with petty offences
such as robbery or violent behaviour, which can be easily traced by and
corrected through institutions and community and family environments. Indeed
law enforcement should be a part of rehabilitation measures. Finally, the
human rights of young people who are imprisoned should be protected and
principles of penal majority according to penal laws should be given great
attention.
H.
Leisure-time activities
91. The importance of leisure-time activities in the psychological,
cognitive and physical development of young people is recognized in all
societies. Leisure-time activities include games, sports, cultural events,
entertainment and community service. Appropriate leisure programmes for youth
are elements of any measure aimed at fighting social ills such as drug abuse,
juvenile delinquency and other deviant behaviour. While leisure programmes
can contribute greatly to the development of the physical, intellectual and
emotional potential of young people, they should be designed with due care and
concern so that they are not used as a means for excluding youth from
participating in other aspects of social life or for indoctrinating them.
Leisure-time activity programmes should be made freely available to young
people.
Proposals for action
1.
Leisure-time activities as an integral part of
youth policies and programmes
92. Governments, in planning, designing and implementing youth policies and
programmes, with the active involvement of youth organizations, should
recognize the importance of leisure-time activities. The importance given to
such activities should be reflected in appropriate funding.
93. Governments are invited to establish public libraries, cultural centres
and other cultural facilities in rural and urban areas, with the aid of
international organizations, and to provide assistance to young people active
in the fields of drama, the fine arts, music and other forms of cultural
expression.
94. Governments are invited to encourage the participation of young people
in tourism, international cultural events, sports and all other activities of
special interest to youth.
2.
Leisure-time activities as elements of educational
programmes
95. Governments, by providing adequate funding to educational institutions
for the establishment of leisure-time activities, may accord priority to such
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