Political participation of youth with disabilities in focus at OSCE/ODIHR event in Warsaw

An informal discussion on how to enable youth with disabilities to take an active part in political and public life was hosted by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Warsaw on 9 February 2017.

The event gathered some 30 participants, including young politicians with and without disabilities, representatives of disabled people’s organizations, young academics, civil society activists, including those working on disability rights and on political participation and youth engagement in Poland, and representatives of the office of the Polish Commissioner for Human Rights.

“Enhancing the political participation of youth with disabilities is the key to self-determination and the concept of independent living,” said guest speaker Tuomas Tuure from the Finnish Threshold Association, who also serves as deputy councilor at the Helsinki City Council. 

“Discussions on ways to generate interest and enable political activism among youth are important at times when we witness declining trust towards democratic institutions and low engagement of young people in public affairs,” said Tiina Kukkamaa-Bah, Chief of the Democratic Governance and Gender unit at ODIHR. “It is important to ensure that young men and women, including youth with disabilities, who often remain underrepresented in decision-making processes are actively involved in shaping the political agenda of their societies, making them more inclusive and participatory.”

Benefiting from their diverse backgrounds, the participants shared their experiences, highlighting a lack of opportunities for young men and women with disabilities to become involved in political life, and explored ways to tackle this issue through greater co-operation among different stakeholders.

The event was organized as part of the ODIHR project “Our right to participate – Promoting the participation of persons with disabilities in political and public life”.