WYDE Civic Engagement, the Youth Participation in Public Affairs programme of the EU’s Women and Youth in Democracy Initiative aims to improve the enfranchisement, empowerment, and inclusion of youth in all levels of democratic participation at the national, regional and global scales.
WYDE Civic Engagement’s three-pronged approach is informed by the need for youth engagement and inclusion not only at national level, but beyond and above it. With half of the world’s population being under 30, the continued survival of democracy is highly dependent on buy-in and support among its youth.
The programme’s 3 pillars
Global Advocacy and Research
Pillar 1
Our global advocacy revolves around the co-coordination of the Youth Political Participation and Civic Engagement, a collaborative platform of the Global Summit for Democracy. The Cohort aims at gathering youth stakeholders to build a common understanding and advocate on youth issues. It plans to achieve this through two types of actions: policy dialogues and advocacy grants. More information on the Youth Democracy Cohort website.
The research component includes a set of research on the role of young people in democracy conducted by young academics and published through the European Democracy Hub as well as research on the cost of politics and elections and its impact for young people.
Co-creation Youth Clusters
Pillar 2
The project will also implement 5 different projects called “Clusters”, coordinated by EPD’s members and aiming at engaging young people active in public affairs, from civil society activists to politicians in an effort to empower them to advocate for more youth inclusion in society. Each of the clusters brings together a number of representatives from each target group and from different countries in order to build their technical capacities, strengthen their advocacy skills and develop pilot actions to put into practice their know-how and ingenuity over time.
Quick impact actions
Pillar 3
Finally, the third pillar consists of quick-impact actions that will provide strategic support to local actors working on youth political inclusion and participation, always at the request of EU delegations. This support will include technical intervention and grants to support local civil society actors on the ground.
By working simultaneously in the different areas, the participants in the activities of WYDE Civic Engagement will form a Global Network of Young People Active in Politics. Based on its own experience, EPD will provide the necessary support to institutionalise the network and set-up cooperation mechanisms amongst its members.
Our latest events
EPD’s 2023 Annual Conference
Pre-Summit for Democracy – Brussels
Summit for Democracy – Costa Rica
Summit for Democracy – Zambia
Contact our team
Operations
Jérémy Apert
Operations
Santiago Barrail
Advocacy
Anne-Simone Badji
Comms
Gwennaëlle Joret
Finance
Andrea Mangiagalli
Grants
Laura Pénot
Operations
Domenico Tuccinardi
The programme is funded by the European Commission DG INTPA under the WYDE initiative.
