Youth

In March 2024, Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), as part of the Democracy Works' project supported by the British Embassy in Skopje, hosted two impactful events focusing on youth and their crucial role in shaping policies. Both youth organisations and political party youth branches engaged in discussions concerning key policy areas affecting youth.

The analysis 'Delayed youth participation – Local elections 2021' looks at the youth representation in the local elections in North Macedonia, held in 2021. The analysis shows how young people are represented and positioned in the voting lists, as well as how often are young people proposed as candidates for the key positions in the elections. Together with women and people with disabilities, young people are one of the most marginalised groups, in terms of political participation.

The findings of the 'Youth and Census' analysis indicate that the number of young people, 15 to 29 years old, in the country is decreasing significantly, the population is aging with 6% fewer young people compared to the 2002 census. In other words, in 2002, 24% of the population were young, while in 2021 – 18% of the population are young. Although there is a drop in youth unemployment, which according to the last census is 28%, this rate is still 15% higher than the one in the European Union.

Political parties are the building blocks of any elective democracy in that they define the pathways for mobilising and canvassing for votes as well as serve as focal points for engaging on governance. As pivotal as the place of political parties in a democracy are, Nigeria's experience with party organising has been one of mixed results, with particular concerns about the exclusion of women, young people, and persons with disabilities.

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