Empowering the Next Generation: the Defender of Rights and the youth together for a more inclusive future

March 4, 2025

History and description of the mission

The Young Ambassadors for Rights (JADE) is a Defender of Rights’ program to educate young people about their rights through their peers. It enables young Civic Service volunteers (a national initiative), aged from 16 to 25, to make a nine-month commitment to the Defender of Rights, to promote children’s rights (JADE Children program) and equality (JADE Equality program) among young people in schools and leisure centers. JADE’s mission is to make children and young people aware of their rights, by sharing the values of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (ICRC) and raising their awareness of the right to non-discrimination and the promotion of equality. Throughout their commitment, each young ambassador receives almost 150 hours of training (in anti-discrimination, public speaking, leadership etc).

Working in pairs, JADEs run workshops and activities in schools with pupils and students, in hospitals in child psychiatry departments, in establishments for children and young people with disabilities, in child protection and youth protection establishments, with young people in care, unaccompanied minors and young prisoners. Depending on the audience and the context in which they work, JADEs adapt their animation sequences and co-construct their proposals with the educational teams, thus guaranteeing the quality of the intervention. 95% of professionals are very satisfied with the content and format of JADE activities.

Evolution of the Program

The JADE Equality program is mainly aimed at middle and high school students, to help them understand the law on non-discrimination, the way in which discrimination occurs, and the means that can be mobilized to restore equality. More broadly, the JADE program is part of Claire Hédon, the Defender of Rights’ commitment to combat sexual and gender-based violence, LGBTphobia, racism and discrimination among the youngest members of society, through awareness-raising and prevention from an early age.

Since the creation of the JADE Equality program, there have been increasingly frequent requests and interest from JADE candidates to raise awareness on gender equality, harassment and cyber-harassment, in line with the evolution of society (#MeToo and the many cases of harassment in schools that have received media coverage). JADEs are also being asked to intervene with an increasingly young public. With the democratisation of smartphone and social network use from an early age (7-8), teachers and educators are seeing an increase in risky behavior and exposure to hate speech and conspiracy theories.

JADE’s work on equality and rights is therefore just one of many actions aimed at preventing these dangerous behaviors. It’s also worth noting that children and young people are increasingly aware of certain realities at an earlier age, and are more open about issues such as sexual orientation and gender identity.

Benefits of the mission for the JADEs themselves and the public they educate

Since the creation of the program by the Defender of Rights, more than 1,000 JADE volunteers have been supported in this mission and about 500 000 children and young people benefited from JADE’s intervention.

There is a growing satisfaction and interest from those dialoguing with JADE. By understanding what discrimination is, they realise that inequalities are unfortunately systemic but that there is a way to fight against them and to promote equality. We often hear them saying that they want to become a future JADE!

In addition to promoting rights and raising awareness among young people, the personal motivation of volunteers who sign up as JADE is to gain confidence and oral fluency. The JADE mission is rich and empowering, while respecting the Civic Service framework: there are no diploma or skill requirements, and volunteers are recruited solely on the basis of their motivation, availability and ability to work in a team and represent the institution of the Defender of Rights. Throughout their assignment, JADEs are required to work as part of a team, conduct meetings with professionals, prepare and organize their workshops, work with entire classes, answering pupils’ questions, run events to attract their audience, etc., all tasks that enable them to develop a wide range of skills. At the end of their mission, JADEs often testify to the richness of the exchanges they’ve had with young people from very different backgrounds. Every year, when the mission comes to an end, it’s moving to see just how much the JADEs have grown from the experience. Those 9 months really have a real impact on their future professional orientation. A majority of them build their career in education, justice, and social work.

What do the JADE after their experience with the Defender of Rights: testimonials from Aziliz and Océane who work today in the field of non-discrimination

AZILIZ BETAUX, “My name is Aziliz, I’m 25 years old, I did a civic service with the Defender of Rights in 2020-2021 and today I’m a project coordinator with the Créteil City Council for Teenagers. This experience has taught me a lot, both professionally, by giving me my first experience of working with young people, and by enabling me to define my project and identify and highlight my qualities. On a personal level, I met other volunteers who were united by the same desire to take action against discrimination, despite the diversity of our backgrounds. All these encounters have always been very enriching! But I think the thing that has changed the most over the course of this experience is certainly my self-esteem and therefore my self-confidence: I really realised that when I stepped out of my comfort zone and had to speak in front of forty or so department directors in the town where I work today, and despite the stress I managed to do it, thanks in part to my civic service experience! Thank you for everything!”

OCÉANE CANO, “Before doing a civic service, I did a professional diploma in Personal Accompaniment, Care and Service, then a BTS in small and medium-sized business management, and finally a degree in Economic and Social Administration. After this degree, not knowing what to do, I turned to the JADE program, for two reasons: to find my way and gain confidence in myself. The JADE mission was a huge benefit for me, and without exaggeration, it was the experience that marked a turning point in both my personal and professional life. Firstly, on a personal level, I was able to become aware of my abilities and skills, at a time when I had little faith in myself. On a professional level, this experience helped me to identify very quickly my attraction for the voluntary sector and, above all, my desire to pursue a new commitment, but always to high school students. Today, I’m working for Article 1, an equal opportunities association, deploying a program designed to help high school students find their way. I run various workshops on employment and on education in high schools in the Paris region, to inform, equip and reassure young people about their future, so that they can make informed career choices. To conclude, I’d say that my JADE experience and my current job have enabled me to fulfill my basic goal: to find my way, gain self-confidence and develop numerous skills such as taking initiative, stress management, oral communication and teamwork. The JADE mission is an experience that I would do again without hesitation, and that I would 100% recommend.”

Illustration by Ivonne Navarro

The views on this blog are always the authors’ and they do not necessarily reflect Equinet’s position.