''No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather, both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime. Young people must be included from birth. A society that cuts itself off from its youth severs its lifeline; it is condemned to bleed to death. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, 1998 in Lisbon at the UN World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth.
This quote is very relevant to the Global South, casually called the global majority countries including, our very own country Kenya. The median age of our country is 19. Yes, 19, and this will be the case for a very long time. It is estimated 80 per cent of Kenya’s population is below age 35. This can be a demographic dividend, especially when it comes to engaging these same youth on matters that affect them, and how they would best like to be represented, and their issues elaborated in policies by policymakers.
In a nutshell, what would happen if public participation was clearly segmented, and a lot of focus put on activities that would ensure that the majority youth have the emotional, psychological and physical or online space to engage with our parliamentarians in the policy-making process?
Among the 30 rights and freedoms enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Article 21 makes it clear that everyone has the right to partake to the political affairs of their countries while having equal access to public services. (Article 19 stipulates freedom of opinion and information. Article 25 of the International Covenant for Civic and Political Rights elaborates the right to participate in the conduct of public affairs, to vote to be elected and access to public service.
How do we take advantage of the youth demographic dividend in politics and in the policy-making process? Are the youth supposed to be relevant only during campaign periods? The answer is no. There are many factors that our parliamentarians can consider. Most of the youth, by virtue of how technology is embedded in everything in our lives, are spending a lot of time on social media. Be it Facebook, Tiktok, Instagram, X, Snapchat, the list is endless.
The youth are mostly trying to create online identities and chatting with others while building social networks. These networks can provide teens with support from other people who have hobbies or experiences in common. Many might argue that these youth, on social media are disinterested in politics, however, any lay person, can pick that in Kenya, any news item that seems relevant to the youth, is highly debated amongst themselves on their various online spaces, with their own influencers.
This means that, should the youth get the right mentors online, to debate with on public policy-making processes and the importance of public participation, then getting the youth to be active in such pertinent factors will not be as difficult as it may seem.
According to the African Development Bank (AfDB), while Kenya has the potential to be one of Africa’s best-performing economies, the country still exhibits some fragility that undermines its democracy and development. Most importantly, the AfDB cites high levels of poverty, regional developmental disparities as well as high youth unemployment (contributing to 64 percent of the nation’s total unemployed population), which is a threat to the country’s overall stability. This statement therefore underscores the need for the youth to be heard, and be heard urgently because, if such a high number of youth are unemployed, then development is still a far cry.
Communications researcher and scholar, currently pursuing peace and development work studies in Sweden ([email protected])