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More than 150 young MPs from across the world with an average age of 37 will take part in the first ever global gathering of its kind in an effort to mobilise youth participation in politics and overcome a democracy deficit in political engagement.
The IPU Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians, which takes place in Geneva on 10-11 October, aims to bridge the gap between the growing weight of young people in societies around the world and their low presence and participation in conventional politics.
It will also examine long-held perceptions of youth apathy and disillusionment with formal politics.
Entitled “Taking democracy to task”, the Conference will be informed by a new benchmark IPU analysis on youth representation in parliament. It shows that despite some encouraging trends, low youth representation in parliament remains a global challenge to democracy. Although half of the world’s population is less than 28 years old according to UNDESA, IPU’s analysis reveals that MPs under the age of 30 account for only 1.75 per cent of parliamentarians in nearly 80 countries.
The analysis provides the first ranking of countries in relation to the percentage of young people in legislative bodies. With 10.1 per cent of MPs in its lower house of parliament under the age of 30, Norway is the only country to break the double digit barrier. In all, 38 parliamentary chambers had no MPs at all under- 30.
The survey results found that MPs aged between 51-60 years account for the largest group of parliamentarians – more than 37 per cent - in nearly 100 parliamentary chambers that took part in the survey.
Using IPU’s own definition of young MPs, i.e. those aged below 45, the analysis is more encouraging albeit for some regions more than others. It reveals a very large percentage range in representation – from 0 per cent in Micronesia, Tuvalu and the Uruguayan Senate to more than 60 per cent in the Netherlands’ lower house of parliament. Eight out of the top ten chambers in the ranking are European.
Bringing young MPs together with youth leaders and international experts, the conference will not only tackle low youth representation in parliament, but also identify the barriers to political participation. These include a highly prevalent discrepancy between minimum ages for voting and for being elected, young people not being taken seriously politically and insufficient youth empowerment initiatives.
The Conference will explore concrete ways to stimulate youth participation in political decision-making and define a clear global youth agenda in politics. The adoption of youth quotas, similar to gender quotas for parliament, could be one way forward to increasing the number of young MPs.
The Conference, to be opened by IPU President Abdelwahad Radi and including a video message from Haruhisa Handa, Chairman of the Worldwide Support for Development which is supporting the event, will also look at the double discrimination faced by young women seeking to enter parliamentary politics. Ahmad Alhendawi, the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth will also participate.
A set of recommended actions defined in an outcome document at the Conference’s conclusion will be followed up by IPU’s Forum of Young Parliamentarians due to meet at the 131st IPU Assembly 12-16 October. The Forum, established in 2013 is a permanent IPU body dedicated to cementing the quantitative and qualitative legislative participation of youth.
Join the discussions at the Conference and the Forum using Twitter: #YoungMPs
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