Expert meeting on youth political participation

On 26th and 27th March the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) in Warsaw hosted an expert meeting on youth political participation. The purpose of the meeting was to finalise and formally adopt a report and set of recommendations made by two Youth Leadership Forums, which were organised in 2014.

The Youth Leadership Forums brought together almost 100 experts and young leaders from 37 OSCE participating States including politicians, journalists, civil servants, civil society, media representatives and online activists. The aim was to address the challenges that youth face in relation to political participation and discuss how the OSCE and its institutions can better assist participating States in meeting their commitments on promoting the inclusion of youth in democratic processes.

The expert meeting was able to validate that recommendations made by the Forums fully reflected the views of young leaders. The resulting set of recommendations fell under a number of topics ranging from civic education and capacity building of individuals, sectors and organisations, to the security and the protection of fundamental freedoms. Other issues incorporated in the recommendations included; access to the Internet, ICT and media legal framework; representation and participation of youth in democratic processes and democratic institutions; and youth interaction with democratic institutions.

The European Youth Forum followed the process closely as an observer at the Forums, and with several of its member organisations represented among the experts and young leaders. We are encouraged by the strong commitment shown by the OSCE to the issue of youth political participation. The Youth Forum plans our own campaign for 2015-2016 run by the League of Young Voters, “Youth Up”, which also addresses youth political participation as a multi-dimensional issue. We hope to partner with the OSCE to ensure the resulting recommendations are widely disseminated and followed up on.