North Carolina allows voter pre-registration for 16-year-olds

North Carolina lawmakers recently passed a bipartisan bill that will allow 16 and 17-year-olds to pre-register to vote (H 908). Young people will be able to register in school and at the motor vehicles department when applying for a driver's license. The bill also requires schools to provide voter registration information in students' 10th-grade civics courses, encourages school districts to promote voter registration, and it includes schools in the annual voter registration drives conducted by local election boards.

The bill was co-sponsored by, among others, the youngest Republican and the youngest Democrat in the General Assembly.

North Carolina Passes Key Youth Voting Reform

Auckland youth pushing for representation in "supercity" governance

Members of the Auckland, Waitakere and North Shore youth councils and the Manukau and Rodney youth forums in Aukland, Australia have submitted a proposal to the local government for an Aukland City Youth Council to advise the government on matters relating to youth. Eight local councils will be merged to form one "supercity" council next year.

The youth groups are also asking that each of the local boards being proposed include youth, that the Aukland Council include a non-voting youth member, that youth consultation be required when the Council is deciding issues affecting youth, and that a youth transition agency be created to help the Council set up the Auckland Youth Council, local territorial youth councils and youth representation on local boards.

Youth want say on supercity

International Youth Day

On the occasion of International Youth Day a number of politicians from around the world made statements about the importance of young people's participation in community leadership, politics and development. Stating one's support and actually providing that support are, of course two different things. Still, it's nice to hear (or read) politicians talking about youth participation.

Below is a sampling of news articles describing political leaders' statements on International Youth Day.

Gambia
VP Reiterates Gov't Commitment to Youth Empowerment

India
'More youth participation needed in India's decision-making'

Pakistan
Youth key partner for sustainable development of world: NA Speaker
Nourishing of youth imperative to put country on path of progress: Chairman Senate
'Unutilised' youth hope for participation in decision-making

The United Nations
SUSTAINABILITY: Our Challenge. Our future.

And last but not least, testimony from an actual young person to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Joint Committee on Election Laws:

Ethiopia/United States
Honoring International Youth Day - An Ethiopian Youth Activist's Perspective

Nigerian youth coalition demands representation on electoral commission

A coalition of students and youth organizations in Nigeria has called on the House of Representatives to adopt a constitutional amendment allowing for youth representation on the board of the country's Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The group, calling itself the Northern Youth Coalition on Electoral Reform, is also seeking to lower the minimum age requirement for serving in the House and Senate to 25 and 30 years, respectively.

The coalition wants to INEC board to include at least two members between the ages of 18 and 35 and points to Uganda's National Youth Statute of 1993 and Participation Act of 1995 as models for legislation.

According to the Northern Youth Coalition,

"Democracy is about numbers. Youths constitute a larger percentage of our population and so cannot be neglected. We have power in our numbers, therefore our interest must be reflected on INEC board."

Northern coalition wants representation on INEC Board

Gambian youth advocate for youth participation

Participants in the Third International Youth Summer School on Peace, which took place 24 July to 1 August in Janjangbureh, Gambia, have released an impressive statement urging NGOs, national governments and communities in Africa to support speedy implementation of the African Youth Charter. The young authors commit to continued advocacy, collaboration with their governments and other stakeholders, and continued involvement in peace education.

The document touches on disarmament, development, the media, sexual trafficking, good governance, diversity, democracy, human rights and more.

Youth advocate and Lobby For Speedy Domestication / implementation of African youth charter

Youth and internet policy in the EU

An organization called HUWY (which I think stands for "Hub Websites for Youth") is seeking to engage European youth in internet policymaking through a pilot project sponsored by the European Commission and based in the UK, Ireland, Estonia and Germany. HUWY provides resources through an EU hub, as well as national hubs and online space for young people to discuss important internet-related issues (e.g., cyber-bullying, file sharing, ID theft, etc.). The idea is that after discussing the issues in whatever ways young people are comfortable with, they will then bring their ideas back to the hubs, and those ideas will be shared by HUWY with national and EU policymakers.

Below is a diagram of the project:


For more information visit HUWY.

Dear Senator...

This is not a news item, event, resource or opportunity, and I do not know who Maryam Uwais is but she makes an eloquent argument in favor of children's participation in public hearings and important policy decisions in a letter to Nigerian Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello. Ms. Uwais criticizes Sen. Obasanjo-Bellow for not allowing children to speak at a recent hearing held to discuss a tobacco control bill, offers the Senator an explanation of the difference between a public hearing and a judicial hearing, and argues that the Nigerian constitution, the Child Rights Act of 2003 and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child all support the right of children to participate in such hearings.

"It is...regrettable that it is one of the main pillars of democracy, the Nigerian Senate, which purposefully denied children the opportunity to fulfill their rights and responsibilities, as entrenched under our Constitution, our laws and the African Charter. Cultural and religious prejudices towards children, coupled with our insecurities as adults, conveyed by a 'know-all' arrogance that continues to insist that we can speak for children and young persons (without listening to them) in matters that directly concern them, have only served as stumbling blocks to the realization of progress and development in our society.

Go Maryam!


Maryam Uwais' letter, "Know-All Arrogance is Stumbling Block to Progress"

Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Nigerian Child's Rights Act 2003

African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child