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News from the Field: Raising Civic Awareness among Yemeni Youth through Participation and Community Service

The participation of youth is essential in making democratization more vibrant and more responsive to their needs. Such participation has begun to emerge and be strengthened in Yemen, where the youth represent the majority of the country's population.

With UNDEF’s support, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), in partnerships with the Democracy School (DS) and the Human Rights Training and Information Center (HRITC), has recently completed the implementation of a project aimed at raising the civic awareness of Yemeni youth through active participation and engaged community service. To become better positioned to address the issue of youth participation, IFES assisted DS and HRITC in collecting relevant information from Yemeni youth in various areas of the country. The information collected reflected the Yemenis understanding of civil participation, civil rights, and access to political life and institution in their respective communities. The information was then disseminated to different schools and NGOs to widen its impact.

To tackle the issue more actively, DS and HRITC conducted a series of workshops around the country. DS carried out a total of eleven workshops for 307 youth. HRITC also conducted several workshops in different areas, including marginalized areas such as Al Almal community in the city of Ta'izz. In total DS and HRITC conducted sixteen workshops for 499 youth. These workshops aimed at increasing the Yemeni youth's understanding of their civil and political rights; raising their level of tolerance and respect for human rights; and consequently boosting their level of participation and volunteerism. 

In order to help these youths put into practice the skills and knowledge they acquired throughout the workshops, DS and HRITC conducted eleven additional activities. Participants were given the opportunity to prioritize their common issues, design strategies on how to approach policy makers, engage with them in a collaborative and constructive partnership, and come up with precise action plans. Through this exercise participants successfully demonstrated a high level of engagement and maturity, which indicates both the relevance of the project as well as the readiness of Yemeni youth to contribute to the democratization process developing in their country. 

The project also addressed the gender issue in youth participation. Nearly 50% of participants were female. This indicates that the Yemeni youth today have come to understand that sustainable reform and democratization can only take place and continue to have an impact if all segments of society are included in the decision making processes.

The project speaks to the youth's firm commitment and willingness to become more than just a target of democratization, but rather active partners in its advancement in a highly positive and effective manner

 

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