At the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) assembly in Kigali, lawmakers have been challenged to have more young representatives in parliaments. About 30 per cent of the world’s members of parliament are under 45 years old, according to figures from the IPU, which defines young MPs as those under the age of 45. IPU says that individuals aged 20-39 make up 38.6 per cent of the world population and yet only 17.5 per cent of MPs are under the age of 40. Speaking on Wednesday, October 12 at the Forum of Young Parliamentarians, Martin Chungong, IPU’s Secretary General, said parliaments across the world need to have more young lawmakers in order to be more innovative. The young MPs forum convened as part of the ongoing 145th IPU assembly. We are always updating our phones, always looking for the latest software to be better connected. And we want to challenge you to do the same with your parliaments,” Chungong told the young MPs. He added: “Please work towards updating your parliaments and making them younger because as they grow younger they become very innovative. We believe innovation and youth are two sides of the same coin.” The IPU is on a campaign called “I Say Yes to Youth in Parliament!” which seeks to have more young people joining parliaments. To fix the youth under-representation, IPU recommended the need for youth quotas, aligning the age of eligibility with that of voting, empowering young parliamentarians, mentoring young aspirants, among other things. Youth need empowerment, MPs say “We all know that young people’s participation is needed for the development of all countries. So, when young people are represented in parliament by their fellow youth, their problems or wishes are understood and their voice is heard among other parliamentarians,” said MP Alice Muzana from Rwanda. In Rwanda, 50 per cent of members of the chamber of deputies are under the age of 45. For MP Vincent Tsvangirai from Zimbabwe, young people need to make themselves heard in the first place. “You cannot expect someone who is 80 years old to guide the future of someone who is 20 years old today. These are two different generations who live and have lived in different times,” Tsvangirai said. “Young people need to occupy the space, be more visible and articulate what they want. They need quotas for young people to be in positions of authority.” Only 26 per cent of MPs globally are women and the IPU assembly is convening under a theme seeking to have more women representatives. MP Tasila Lungu from Zambia said that in some cases, young people, especially women need to be empowered financially because competition for political positions is costly. “Politics is very expensive. You have a situation where young people are competing with older people who are already financially prepared and stable and have held on to the positions for a long time,” said Lungu, who became an MP about a year ago. “To have more women MPs, we need to address the income gap between men and women. If we take care of that, at least the playing field will be levelled.”
