The participation of youth in politics is of great interest to decision makers, because it expresses the relationship between young people and their citizenship. That of young women is even more important since it is related, furthermore, to the issue of gender equality. In addition, it is a wide-ranging issue as it involves many institutions working in the fields of: economy, education, media, gender etc…
All around the world, we register disinterest, even apathy, from young people regarding politics. This apathy is manifested especially through non-adherence to formal political activities (those initiated by political parties, congress, thinktanks) and electoral abstention of youth. Socio-economic and political aspects are placed at the top of the list of obstacles- they are related to the economic situation of young people, which is progressively made more difficult by prevailing youth unemployment.
Some countries have taken the initiative to encourage young people, from a young age, to get involved in politics. These initiatives concern the institution, at the local level, of municipal councils for children/youth, parliaments for children/youth, and the designation of young people in the leading bodies of political parties. Other institutions have investigated ways to fulfill the aspirations of young people and actualize their visions of the future. In that sense, the CAWTAR report on teenagers constitutes a wealth of information concerning the reality of political involvement of teenagers in the Arab region. In addition, Tunisia organized a national consultation focusing on young people and involved young people in this project, with the goal of giving priority to their worries and needs. A partnership with the Tunisian Youth Study will seek to further examine the issue of political participation of young women.
What can we do in order to address hindrances to the participation of young women in political life? How can we increase their awareness of different modes of political participation? The project will try to answer these questions through:
- a study that will be implemented in practice
- a forum on “the participation of young people in politics,” involving young people, institutions, NGOs, and various mechanisms put in place to support young people.
Some other useful documents on the topic "Youth and politics" :
We also suggest seeing the list of publications of our library :
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