Stakeholders join initiatives that steer youth participation in electoral processes

One of the chief-reasons young people continue being denied the opportunity to participate in electoral processes is lack of local and national leaders` support in initiatives that seek to promote youth participation. Despite youths showing their potential to contribute meaningfully in decision making spaces, many community leaders still view  young people as a threat to the status quo, hence their suppression of initiatives that aim at fostering youth participation.

The Community Youth Development Trust (CYDT) has conducted youth policy forums as well as voter education forums in which leaders were engaged and challenged to develop concrete and effective strategies that would facilitate the participation of young people in the upcoming 2023 elections and beyond.

In these programs, leaders were reminded that it was their mandate to ensure that there was equal representation and participation of all groups of people especially youth and young women in electoral processes. The need to realize and respect Section 20 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe that guarantees youth participation was also emphasised in these activities. 

The organisation is pleased by the fact that these activities have since sparked a positive change of attitude from both local and national leaders who have now joined campaigns to increase youth voter registration in the project areas. One such leader was Sipho Mukoni who is a Member of Parliament. Hon Mukoni told CYDT that she and other women in parliament were now using their social media accounts to encourage young people to register to vote. She noted that they have realised that majority of young people are online hence the significance of using platforms like Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter to reach out to them.

Other leaders such as those from the Ministry of Youth told the organisation that they will soon give a feedback on the youth policy issues raised by young people during a policy forum in Gwanda.  Such positive reactions from leaders in programs that seek to increase youth participation  in all levels of governance is a success that needs to be celebrated as it motivates the organisation to continue carrying out activities that will help achieve a maximum youth vote in the 2023 elections.