The peaceful and powerful youth-led
uprisings in the Arab world brought young people back onto the world stage as
serious political actors with the right and capacities to be equally included
in politics. However, young women and men are not represented in electoral
processes in a way that reflects their population size and potential assets and
contributions to enhance inclusive representation. Elections lie at the heart
of democracy and effective and inclusive participation of all citizens—including
youth—in elections and broader political processes is critical to democratic
development. Expectations are high that the inclusion of youth in electoral
processes will increase. Significant frustration is likely to arise if this
does not happen, with a potentially destabilizing effect on democratization.
A number of stakeholders, including Election
Management Bodies (EMBs), can play a critical role when it comes to including
the world’s largest-ever youth population in elections and broader political
and peacebuilding processes. The youth are not homogenous and do not operate in
a vacuum; it is desirable for them to collaborate with a variety of state and
non-state actors – especially youth organizations – to promote elections that
are inclusive of young people, and especially of young women and youth from
marginalized groups.
Creating an enabling and empowering
environment for youth participation in electoral processes and the building of
peace is a vital part of strengthening democratic governance. As this topic
area illustrates, strategies to support youth participation ideally span all
phases of the electoral cycle. This entails strategically addressing the:
- legal framework: reviewing the legal framework (constitution, electoral
law, regulation, jurisprudence and managerial rules) and its effects on youth
political participation
- pre-electoral phase: recognizing and supporting youth as community,
political leaders and engaged citizens
- electoral phase: mobilizing youth as voters, candidates, observers and
active participants in all aspects of the electoral process
- post-electoral phase: supporting youth voices in the legislature and
government and strengthening youth agency
