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Promoting the role of youth in political and democratic spaces

15 November 2022

14:00-16:00 CET

Online (Zoom and Youtube)

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Democracy Assessment

The first Summit for Democracy, held in December 2021, brought together leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector to set out an affirmative agenda for democratic renewal. Between the first and second Summit, the ‘Year of Action’ is an opportunity for governments to begin to implement their commitments to democracy made during the first Summit, with the help of civil society and democracy support organisations.

The co-leadership of the Youth Political and Civic engagement cohort by the European Commission, Ghana, Nepal, the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD), AfricTivistes, and The European Democracy Youth Network (EDYN) underscores the importance of promoting Youth ownership of the Democratic values’ legacy.

International IDEA, in collaboration with the European Commission (EC) and the Youth Political and Civic Engagement Cohort of the Summit for Democracy (S4D), would like to cordially invite you to an event on the S4D taking place on 15 November, 14:00-16:00 h CET, online.

The Year of Action online peer-to-peer dialogue Promoting the role of youth in political and democratic spaces event will explore commitments on youth presented by governments at the S4D. It will offer an opportunity for discussions between European Union (EU) and non-EU governments, civil society organizations (CSOs) and other relevant stakeholders on youth and political participation, and on youth, digitalisation, and online electoral integrity. The dialogue will further explore lessons learnt and identify opportunities for further engagement for this Year of Action. It will feature speakers from EU institutions, government representatives from EU Member States, Africa, and Latin America, CSOs and non-governmental organisations.

Participants

Online event for representatives from EU, EU Member States, EU Member States permanent representations, EU delegations, Team Europe Democracy organizations, civil society organisations, S4D focal points of non-EU countries.

Agenda

Agenda Item	Speakers/presentation/moderation	Comments
Welcome and opening remarks (10 min)	Welcome and opening remarks Mr Thomas Millar, Head of the Democratic Governance Sector at the European Commission (DG INTPA)	Welcome to participants and set the stage for the dialogue.
Youth participation in democratic processes (50 minutes)	Presentation and moderator Ms Anne-Simone Badji, Programme Coordinator, European Partnership for Democracy Speakers Ms Kathleen Addy, Chairperson, National Commission for Civic Education, Ghana Ms Katarina Jakubčeková, Analyst for EU Policies, Government Office of the Slovak Republic Mr Samson Itodo, Founder and Executive Director of Yiaga Africa	Discussions on commitments on inclusive youth representation and efforts to increase their participation in democratic processes, role of civil society, future opportunities
Youth and online electoral integrity (50 minutes)	Presentation and moderator Mr Riccardo Chelleri, Election Expert, Election observation and democratisation division European External Action Services (EEAS) Speakers Mr Pekka Hukka, Ambassador for Democracy and Rule of Law, Finland Ms Narbada Ghimire, Section Officer at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Nepal Ms Mariela Castro Ávila, Institute for Training and Studies in Democracy (IFED) of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, Costa Rica Ms Beatriz Almeida Saab, Programme and Research Associate, Democracy Reporting International (DRI)	Discussions on empowering the participation of youth in the digital sphere. What mitigating role can young people have in safeguarding online electoral integrity and fight dis/misinformation
Closing & main take-aways (10 minutes)	Concluding remark Mr Sam Van der Staak, Head of Regional Europe Programme, International IDEA	Drawing on sessions, the speaker will conclude with some of the main takeaways