Youth

Talking about youth political participation means confronting two main issues. On one hand, there is a dominant narrative portraying young generations as apathetic or disengaged from the future of their communities. On the other, from a more scientific standpoint, the challenge lies in understanding what political participation means today in an increasingly digital, multicultural, and disintermediated context.

New research commissioned by the Istituto Toniolo di Studi Superiori, based on unpublished data from Ipsos, explores the dynamics shaping the relationship between young people (aged 18 to 34) and politics today.

What is political participation?

First of all, there is no universal consensus on the definition of political participation. Interpretations range from traditional institutional views — limiting participation to behaviours aimed at influencing government decisions and selecting representatives — to broader conceptions that hold everything as political.

This spectrum shapes how we describe youth political activism, with narrow definitions excluding emerging forms of participation, while overly broad ones risk diluting the concept.

Full article available here.

A new ranking by UN Women and the Inter-Parliamentary Union puts Nigeria 179th out of 185 countries for the percentage of women in the national legislature.

Women currently make up only 3.9% of seats in the House of Representatives. In the Senate, three of the 108 current members are women. In the executive branch, women head eight of 45 (17.8%) of ministries.

This absence of women in prominent positions in politics subtly reinforces societal biases and moulds public opinion, which subconsciously excludes women from political leadership.

We are a group of researchers who have expertise in gender and African politics and childhood political socialisation. We have been researching the political socialisation of children in Nigeria for the past three years.

Our research in Ogun State reveals that children are internalising what they see on the political stage. We asked children aged 5 to 16 at 12 schools in Ogun State to imagine and draw a leader such as a president, governor, or member of a national or state assembly at work. Only 5% of 981 children drew a woman as a political leader.

Ninety-two percent of girls drew a man, compared to 98% of boys.

Full article by The Conversation.

Image source: The Conversation

While almost two-thirds of young people in the U.S. support democracy, almost a third view it skeptically and are more inclined to accept authoritarianism, according to a new report on attitudes of youth in America after the 2024 elections.

In a nationally representative poll of 18–29 year olds by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University's Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life and Protect Democracy, researchers found that 62% of the young people surveyed display "passive appreciation" for democracy, trusting government institutions, valuing democratic principles, and rejecting authoritarianism and political violence.

At the same time, the people in this group—who are more likely than the average to be conservative—are not civically engaged and do little more than vote, which doesn't augur well for democracy, say the report authors.

And then there are the 31% of the Gen Z survey respondents who do not buy into the value of democracy, have little confidence that the system works, and show higher support for authoritarian governments than other youth. This group, which the researchers refer to as displaying "dismissive detachment" from democracy, vote at a similar rate as other youth, but rarely participate in political action, and believe that they cannot create political change.

Read here the full article published by Phys.org on 14 April 2025.

Image by Phys.org

Young people’s urban lives are often riddled with inequalities and everyday obstacles inhibiting their full societal participation, to negatively affect their health and wellbeing. Findings from a study in intermediary cities in six countries show that programming interventions that support adolescents contain much tacit knowledge in on how inequity and exclusion challenges may be overcome, that is worth sharing. Yet, these initiatives also face and must strategically respond.

Context

Women across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region continue to face underrepresentation in political and economic spheres, which limits their ability to shape important political and economic decisions. Although several countries in the region have introduced rules to increase women’s participation, their perspectives and needs remain largely excluded from both national and regional negotiations. Furthermore, as conflicts in the region persist and escalate, women face additional barriers, which undermine the progress already made towards achieving gender equality.

Approach

The project focuses on increasing women’s political and economic participation in the MENA region through targeted actions and collaborations. To achieve this, it implements the following measures:

• The project provides tailored advice and development opportunities to economic and political change agents, enhancing the impact of their work.

• It shares successful and innovative strategies across the region to encourage adoption in other countries, with the goal of increasing women’s participation.

• The project cooperates with national and regional networks to implement measures that promote women’s involvement in economic and political life.

• It promotes women’s fundamental human rights, ensuring they can influence policies that advance gender equality and inclusion in the MENA region.

• The project raises awareness across various age groups, fostering a more active role for women in political and economic activities.

Read here the full article published by GIZ on 8 November 2024.

Image by GIZ