Youth political participation

Young people are often excluded or overlooked as political candidates. Politics is typically regarded as a space for politically experienced men, and while women are often disadvantaged in accumulating experience to run for office, young people are systematically marginalized because of their young age, limited opportunities, and projected lack of experience. 

As the increased political participation of women benefits society as a whole, the presence of young people in decision-making positions benefits all citizens and not just youth. 

The Inter- parliamentary Union (IPU) reports that people between the ages of 20 and 44 make up 57% of the world’s voting age population but only 26% of the world’s Members of Parliament (MPs). 

Young people under 30 represent 1.9% of the world’s MPs and more than 80% of the world’s upper houses of Parliament have no MPs aged under 30. 

While young people often play central and catalyzing roles in movements for democracy around the world, they are less engaged than older generations in voting and party activism. 

Together, these trends have inspired many international organizations to study the lack of youth political participation and train youth activists to become political leaders. 

Recognizing the potential of youth, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) developed its first-ever Youth Strategy (2014–2017) , called “Empowered Youth, Sustainable Future”, in line with the UN System-Wide Action Plan on Youth (2013) which calls on young generations to become more involved and more committed in development processes. 

2013 also saw the publication of the “Enhancing Youth Political Participation throughout the Electoral Cycle: A Good Practice Guide “, UNDP’s first review of programming strategies for youth political participation beyond the ballot box. 

In 2016, to further boost the implementation of UNDP’s Youth Strategy and respond to both the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and United Nations Security Council Resolution 2250 on youth, peace and security , UNDP launched a Youth Global Programme for Sustainable Development and Peace – Youth-GPS (2016–2020) . 

The Youth-GPS focuses on civic engagement and political participation, among other areas, and responds to the concerns young people have expressed in global, regional and national forums and the growing demand at all levels for cutting-edge and strategic support in youth programming in all development contexts. 

In 2016, as a joint initiative of a number of partners including UNDP and IPU, the “Not Too Young To Run ” global campaign was launched to elevate the promotion of young people’s right to run for public office and address the wide-spread issue of age discrimination. 

In 2010, IPU adopted the resolution “Youth participation in the democratic process ” at its 122 Assembly and in 2013, established the Forum of Young Parliamentarians. Since then, IPU published two studies, one in 2014 and another in 2016 , using a questionnaire to gather data from its Member Parliaments around the world on youth participation in national parliaments. 

Through these studies, IPU provides a number of recommendations for action which, if acted on, will ensure young people are fully engaged in politics. These include designing strategies by national parliaments and political parties that target the inclusion of young MPs and ensure diversity among youth, addressing the disparities between the number of young men and young women entering parliament. 

IPU also recommends to align the minimum age for parliamentary candidacies with the minimum voting age and to establish youth quotas (e.g. reserved seats, legislated quotas, party quotas) as a means of increasing the number of young MPs. 

In 2016 the IPU membership endorsed the document “Rejuvenating democracy, giving voice to youth ”, based on the principles promoted by the young parliamentarians of the IPU: “No decisions about us without us”, that outlines how parliaments and parliamentarians could help rejuvenate democracy and give the world’s young people a voice in political decision-making. 

In addition, UN Women established the Youth Forum at the CSW in March 2016, allowing global youth representatives to discuss the issues they face and to reflect on ways to help deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals , especially Goal 5 on gender equality. 

UN Women also published CEDAW for Youth in 2016, a youth-friendly version of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) elaborated by young people. 

International IDEA published in 2016 a report entitled “Increasing youth participation throughout the electoral cycle: entry points for electoral management bodies” documenting the challenges and practices directed at youth inclusion in politics and within different electoral processes. Credit: iKNOW Politics