Young people explore new tools for political participation at OSCE/ODIHR workshop in Tirana
Some 30 young people from across South-Eastern Europe gathered together with experts on civic technology, e-governance and related fields in Tirana on 17 November 2017 to explore how new technologies and social media platforms can encourage young peoples’ political participation by creating avenues for the youth voice and influence to be heard and seen, as well as remove institutional barriers young people face in exercising their rights to participate in civic and political life.
The workshop, organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), was designed to address the recommendations from ODIHR’s Youth Leadership Forums, which in 2014 brought together nearly 100 young people form 37 OSCE participating States to discuss issues and opportunities for youth engagement in the democratic process. A follow-up action plan was one of the outcomes of the workshop.
“The democratic and political domain is ripe for revitalization, driven by younger citizens seeking tools to support them in meaningful civic and political participation,” said Tiina Kukkamaa-Bah, Chief of ODIHR’s Democratic Governance and Gender Unit. “We hope that this workshop will be helpful in identifying such tools and promoting youth engagement across the OSCE area.”
The event provided an opportunity to challenge the narrative, common in many OSCE participating States, that young people are disengaged from civic and political life. It highlighted the fact that young people typically favour non-formal methods of political engagement, such as volunteering, information-sharing and issue-based activism and advocacy, which are not captured by conventional metrics used to measure youth political engagement.
”I am delighted to participate in this important event focusing on digital democratic engagement for young people in the region,” said Rebecca Rumbul, Head of Research at mySociety, a United Kingdom-based non-profit civic technology organization. “While digital platforms offer a new world of opportunities for young people to engage meaningfully with their democratic processes, it is often bewildering knowing where to start, and I hope this event will inspire the participants to find new and creative ways to make a difference in their communities.”