Youth

Highlighted Resources

Engaging young people and women in European Parliament elections

This Discussion Paper puts together relevant data on the inclusion of young people and women in European Parliament elections.It is focused on two pitfalls of EU electoral democracy: voter absenteeism on the part of young people, and the under-representation of women in the European Parliament....

Youth participation in political processes

The Second Annual Summer School for Young Leaders from African Political Parties took place in Kigali, Rwanda, on 6–8 June 2018. The overall theme was ‘Youth participation in political processes: emerging trends of the negative aspects of money in politics’.The Summer School unfolded in a context...

Youth representation in parliament nudges up according to new IPU report

The global proportion of MPs under 30 has increased in two years from 1.9 per cent to 2.2 per cent according to the IPU’s biannual report on Youth Participation in National Parliaments published today. Despite this increase, when compared with the half of the world’s population that is under 30,...

Youth participation in national parliaments: 2018

Promoting the participation of young people in political life is becoming a higher priority worldwide. Over one third of the 169 targets established as part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) relate to young people and the importance of their empowerment, participation and...

Young MPs speak out on youth political empowerment

Data from the IPU shows the worrisome lack of representation of young people in parliaments. To commemorate International Youth Day 2017 (12 August), the IPU has asked young MPs worldwide to share their views on how to increase youth engagement in politics.We are sharing these views through a...

The Youth Democracy Academy celebrates first alumni

By Shana KaiserThe first class of International IDEA’s Youth Democracy Academy graduated on 17 July in a ceremony attended by representatives of organizations who will be hosting the alumni as interns for the next six months and representatives from International IDEA Member States.The ceremony,...

Power to the people? Tackling the gender imbalance in combined authorities and local government

A new generation of young women is ready and willing to participate in politics.The UK general election in June 2017 saw a rise in voter turnout among 18- to 24-year-old women, with participation up from 44 to 53 per cent compared with the 2015 general election. However, so far there is little...

RAU report finds that violence discourages young women from participating in politics in Zimbabwe

The Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU) has cited violence as a leading factor discouraging young women from actively participating in politics.Zimbabwe will hold general elections next year, and women participation is pivotal as they constitute 52% of the population.In a recent report titled “Do...