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Engaging Youth in Democracy: Empowering the Next Generation
Summary
10.00 - 11.00 Geneva CET
Democracy constantly needs to be nurtured and strengthened through an ongoing process of engagement with the whole of society. Civic education in schools and beyond is an important starting point for building “democracy literacy”. Democracy also needs to be defended from direct attacks as well as less visible forms of attrition. If people no longer believe in democracy, democracy is at risk.
It is a responsibility of today’s political leaders to ensure the next generations have the skills, tools and knowledge to lead their countries through the challenges of the future. What, practically, should parliamentarians be doing to empower young men and women to take their place in public discussion? Questions to explore include:
What can parliamentarians do to make young people believe that they are being taken seriously?
What does a seat at the table mean for young people and what can parliamentarians do to give them that access?
How can the time-honoured traditions of parliament be modernised or adapted to take account of the way young people like to be involved?
How can we make politics less hostile and more collaborative to encourage young people, especially young women, to participate?
Through an exchange of perspectives and experiences, this webinar aims to put forward ideas that today’s political leaders can use to empower young people, and for which young people can hold their political leaders to account.
Moderator: Mr. Milton Dick, Speaker of the House of Representatives (Australia)
Language(s): English, French, Spanish, Arabic
The event is part of the series of webinars in follow-up to the 2022 IPU-UNDP Global Parliamentary Report on Public engagement in the work of parliament.
Recordings of all the webinars are on IPU’s YouTube Public engagement playlist. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Find out how to join the International Parliament Engagement Network: ipen-network.org. To engage with participants before and after the event, join the Public engagement LinkedIn page.