Effective participation of youth in politics is critical to democratic developments around the globe. Over the past years, many countries have seen a sharp increase in their youth population. At present, more than half of the world’s population of 7.4 billion is between 20 and 44. Narrowing down the age bracket, an estimated 1.2 billion are between 15 and 24. In this context, youth participation in democratic processes overall and in elections more specifically is becoming more important to practitioners (such as EMBs, political parties and civil society organizations) and assistance providers alike.
Young persons are often marginalized from formal political processes. For example, they are less likely to be members of political parties and they are less likely to be registered and to vote on election day. At the same time, youth are critical to social and political transformation – testified by recent e.g. the Jasmine Revolution in Tunis in 2011 and the Burkinabe uprising in Burkina Faso in 2014. Over the past few years, major youth protests have also been voiced through social media such as the Y'en a marre and Occupy Central campaigns in Senegal and Hong Kong, respectively, and the #feesmustfall initiative in South Africa. Although having seemingly withdrawn from the formal political processes, they are not disengaged in politics as such.
Electoral management bodies (EMBs) play a critical role when it comes to engaging youth in electoral processes. Traditionally, EMBs have aimed to increase turnout among youth through targeted campaigns for youth to register and vote. In recent years, this approach have included the use of internet and social media. However, there is a need for EMBs to develop more sophisticated approaches and to consider alternative methods that will produce higher involvement among youth (IDEA 2015). One possible area of engagement is ensuring that young electoral candidates have required knowledge about the electoral process and the legal framework. Another area includes taking measures to assert the involvement of youth in the management of elections.
In the context of the Removing Barriers to Youth Participation, International IDEA has gathered experiences from EMBs work in the field of promoting youth participation in Africa. The case studies – available below – were presented in the Roundtable on Elections & Youth that was organized in Centurion (South Africa) on 24-26 November 2015 and provided the basis for the IDEA Policy Brief on Youth Participation in Electoral Processes: New Roles for African Electoral Management Bodies (also available in French).
