Let's leverage technology to engage our youth in democratic discourse

Today Rwanda joins the global community to mark the International Day of Democracy. This provides, once more, the international community, and Rwanda in particular, with the opportunity to celebrate the progress made towards deepening democracy and good governance in Rwanda as well as to reflect on the challenges that still remain. This year’s global theme is aptly titled “Engaging Young People on Democracy.” In the words of the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, young people “have powers to network that would have been unimaginable when the United Nations was founded nearly 70 years ago.” On this day, we should be reminded that “the energy, talent and strength of young people represent humankind’s most valuable and least tapped natural resource.” The benefits of effectively functioning democracies are well known by now. Key among them are peaceful changes of power, stability, security, accountability at all levels and conducive environment for sustainable development. The past few years have witnessed notable progress in the process of democratization in many African countries, including Rwanda. But much more remains to be accomplished, especially addressing the challenges related ensuring better organized elections, the issue of term limits and broad participation. One area that needs particular attention across the globe is the participation of young people in democratic processes. Today, the young people constitute majority of populations in most developing countries.It is, therefore, important to reflect on ways to tap into this important resource in the context of efforts aimed at deepening democracies. One can, for instance, think of new technologies, particularly the Internet, which provide effective mechanisms for engaging young people. It is common knowledge that the majority of the internet users belong to the youth groups. Availing technologies will, however, not be a panacea to young people’s engagement in democratic processes. Innovative grassroots methods of social mobilization are key, the types that President Obama experimented with when he was a young politician and used effectively in his bid to secure the Presidency in the US Rwanda also has its own brand of innovative community mobilization approaches that should be scaled up and it is a leader in the area of ICT. Another good example is the First Lady’s initiative to promote young girls empowerment through “Inkubito z’Icyeza” forums for excellence clubs which is a good strategy to empower young girls to fully participate in decision making and democratic processes at all levels. The internet will only be a useful tool for reaching out and communicating with the youth, if it will help them address the apathy and disengagement from politics that young people are currently experiencing in many parts of the world. Assumptions should also not be made that young people are merely interested in voicing their views and aspirations. They want to have a say for sure; but they equally want to be listened to and influence the decision making processes. Leaders and opinion shapers, including parents should likewise focus on improving their ability to listen, understand and engage with young people in a genuine and relevant “democratic” conversation. Ultimately, in a world where more than half of the globe’s seven billion people are young people under the age of 30, engaging the youth is definitely essential to ensuring that democracy is complete. Because, democracy is incomplete without the will of the masses - the youth being the majority. Of essence also is to reflect on availability of information on democracy and politics to the young people. Young people can only be fully involved if they are provided with the right information. Studies have shown that very little education on politics takes place in schools these days. Education on politics and democracy is important, because the knowledge of politics is critical in promoting interest of the youth in it and the right information is a powerful tool in the hands of the youth. Obviously, the emergence of E-governance and it’s utilization as an opinion mobilizer among the youth has significant potential to enhance the involvement of the young populace. E-governance is a means for disseminating political information for improving communication and participation as well as transforming political debate and culture. Rwanda, having embraced technology as the engine for development, is in a very good position to use E-governance to reach out to the youth. So as we reflect on the democratic gains made in Rwanda, let us think about how we can leverage technology to more actively engage the youth in democratic discourse and processes. As young people are the drivers of emerging communication technology, harnessing technology to engage them in democracy seems to be an obvious choice. The writer is the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Rwanda.

Opinions

Let's leverage technology to engage our youth in democratic discourse