Another approach to meaningful youth
participation is that of “three lenses,” A key understanding of this approach
is that young people participate in different ways as beneficiaries, partners,
and/or leaders.[i]
EMBs and other electoral stakeholders might find it helpful to look at their
engagement with youth through these lenses when deciding on strategies and programs
as they work towards the goal of enhancing youth political participation. They
could assess their current engagement approaches using the “ladder” continuum,
deciding where they want to be, and what roles young people can play (as
beneficiaries, partners, and/or leaders) to achieve their engagement aims. This
may require a shift in thinking about the participation of youth as merely
beneficiaries in one-off projects to sustained and youth-led processes.
An example of using the “three
lenses” approach to a voter education program targeting first-time voters would
be for EMBs to consider the role of youth as:
- Beneficiaries – e.g. the youth target group is people aged 15–17 who have not
registered to vote for an upcoming election (either nation-wide or local)
- Partners – e.g. young men and women representing various CSOs (aiming for a
cross-section of youth from marginalized communities) and other community
organizations (such as schools, universities, youth clubs)
- Leaders – e.g. the personnel and committee managing the program could be
drawn from the EMB (preferably led by a young employee), from the partnering
organizations, and from the beneficiaries.
While EMBs and other electoral
stakeholders will want to avoid tokenism, it is not always possible to engage
with youth as other than beneficiaries. Whether or not an organization can
partner with young people will depend on the practicalities of the particular
situation under their consideration. The three lenses approach encourages
organizations to view youth as potential leaders and partners, working with
them in these roles when this is possible.
