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Spotlight: Youth

We know that young people hold the power to create transformational change.

DID YOU KNOW:

Young people (under 30) represent approximately 52% of the world's population - with this number expected to grow significantly in the coming decades.

Source: UN, 2023

However, they are often faced with barriers that prevent them from being seen or heard.

For example, despite their large share of the global population, youth represent only 2.6% of the world's parliamentarians. The exclusion of young people from parliament and other decision-making spaces limits the ability of youth to shape their own future.

Young people bring fresh ideas, innovative thinking, and inclusive, collaborative approaches that can build a better future for all people and the planet.

How can civil society organisations help to ensure that young people have the representation they deserve and that they can access their right to participate - particularly in making the decisions that impact them?

Accountable Now provides organisations with the information and resources they need to meaningfully engage youth and support youth-led organisations to grow and thrive.

Check out some of our resources, created with and for young people, on how to meaningfully engage youth below.

The ‘Youth Engagement’ podcast series

We asked - youth answered.

Hear from young people, speaking to other young people, about what meaningful youth engagement means to them, some of the barriers they face, and their ideas for how to create a better future for all.

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Listen to the conversations here:
Part 7: Prekkshya Bimali (Accountability Lab Nepal) and Mori Cheng (World Scouting)
In Part 7 of our Youth Engagement Series, Prekkshya (Accountability Lab Nepal) and Mori (World Organization of the Scout Movement) chat with Katie (Accountable Now) all about Youth Advisory Positions. They share their own personal experiences in those positions, explaining time commitment, capacity strengthening, and incentives. They also share insights on best practices of Youth Advisory Positions, both from a participant and institutional perspective. They highlight why Youth Advisory Positions are important, and how CSOs can encourage youth to join Youth Advisory Positions. Transcript can be found here: bit.ly/4avv4Pp
Listen now
Youth Engagement Part 6: Maniza Habib and Amani Nelson (Population Institute)
In Part 6 of our Youth Engagement Series, Maniza and Amani chat about “Behind Closed Doors” – their recent co-authored report with Population Institute (read the report here). The report is a close examination of the damaging components and underlying factors of gender-based violence in the United States. Maniza and Amani share about their research process, being young researchers, and how their youth perspective positively shaped the report. They also highlight the voices of youth they listened to throughout their research, sharing how CSOs can support young people, especially young survivors of gender-based violence.
Listen now
Youth Engagement Series Part 5: Stephen Musarurwa (Climate Live) and Tatiana Natalie Kondo (Voice2Rep)
In Part 5 of the Youth Engagement Series, Stephen and Tatiana join Katie (Accountable Now Fellow) to talk about artivism – art and activism – and its relation to the climate justice scene. They share how they’ve seen art used as a tool for positive social change. They also pull from their personal experiences in international climate change conversations to talk about the barriers to youth representation and how youth representation and capacity building matters.
Listen now
Youth Engagement Series Part 4: Yasmina Benslimane (Politics4Her)
In Part 4 of our Youth Engagement miniseries, Yanti Silviana (Impact and Strategy Fellow at Accountable Now) speaks with Yasmina Benslimane (Founder, Politics4Her) about the rise of technology for feminist activism and the challenges of online gender based violence in the SWANA region [South West Asia and North Africa], and the creative ways youth activists are finding to ensure their voices are heard online.
Listen now
Youth Engagement Series Part 3: Vanessa Chisakula
In Episode 3, we speak with Vanessa Chisakula (from CIVICUS' Youth Action Team) about the importance of creating an enabling environment for youth to innovate and thrive - and how to avoid tokenistic engagement.
Listen now
Youth Engagement Series Part 2: Abiee Harris and Maddie Wray-Reynolds
As part of the newly formed Youth Voice and Participation Team at Girlguiding South West England, Abiee Harris and Maddie Wrey-Reynolds discuss future plans for enabling young people's participation in decision making processes, and the need to engage young people by meeting them where they are.
Listen now
Youth Engagement Series Part 1: Caleb Masusu
With Caleb Masusu (Restless Development) Learn about some of the barriers young people face to participation and how CSOs can support young people in dismantling barriers, plus hear about the work that Restless Development is doing to ensure youth participation and strengthen youth civil society.
Listen now

Are you a young person with a story to tell, or an idea for future episode?

REACH OUT TO US

Want to ensure that young people have the access and get the power and recognition they deserve?

Here are 7 ways.

WEBSITE VERSION Youth Cheatsheet – 1

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