[Parliamentary Session 6] Leading the digital transformation journey: Dialogue with youth leaders

Summary

This discussion focused on youth participation in digital governance and policymaking, bringing together parliamentarians and youth leaders. The conversation highlighted the importance of including young people in legislative processes and decision-making regarding digital technologies and artificial intelligence.

Parliamentarians shared various initiatives to engage youth, such as youth parliaments, lowering the age for political participation, and creating mentorship programs. They emphasized the need for inclusive policymaking that considers the perspectives of young people who have grown up with digital technologies.

Youth representatives stressed the importance of genuine participation rather than tokenism. They called for institutionalizing youth involvement through consultative bodies, structured forums, and fair compensation for their contributions. The discussion also touched on the challenges of funding youth political participation and changing cultural perceptions about young politicians.

Several key points emerged, including the need for contextualized legislation that considers local disparities in digital access and literacy, the importance of accountability in protecting digital rights, and the value of intergenerational dialogue in shaping digital policies. Participants also discussed the balance between embracing technological opportunities and addressing potential risks.

The conversation concluded with calls for responsible digital education, mechanisms for youth to directly petition parliaments, and recognition of young people as partners rather than beneficiaries in policymaking. Overall, the discussion underscored the critical role of youth in shaping a more inclusive digital future and the need for sustained efforts to empower their participation in governance processes.

Keypoints

Major discussion points:

– The importance of youth participation in policymaking and digital governance

– Strategies for engaging youth in political processes, like youth parliaments and lowering voting ages

– Challenges in including youth perspectives, such as funding and communication gaps

– The need for responsible digital education and balancing youth engagement with national security concerns

– The unique perspective youth bring to digital issues given their familiarity with technology

Overall purpose:

The goal was to foster dialogue between youth leaders and parliamentarians on priorities for a more inclusive digital future, exploring how young people can effectively contribute to policymaking and legislative procedures related to digital governance.

Tone:

The discussion had a collaborative and constructive tone throughout. There was a sense of mutual respect between the youth representatives and parliamentarians, with both sides acknowledging the importance of youth involvement while also recognizing the need for responsible engagement. The tone became more urgent and action-oriented towards the end as participants made final appeals for concrete steps to increase youth participation.

Speakers

– Keith Andere: Moderator

– Sahar Albazar: Member of Parliament from Egypt

– Ihita Gangavarapu: Coordinator of India Youth IGF

– Duaa Albalawi: Head of Y20 delegation at Y20 summit in Brazil

– Dansa Kourouma: President of the Parliament of the Republic of Guinea

– Tobias Bacherle: Member of Parliament from Germany

Additional speakers:

– Jose Keja: From Ghana African Youth IGF

– Noa Abdubeki: From Egypt

– Srinath Govindarajan: From India

– Matilda Moses Mashauri: Youth participant

– Alpha Abdoulaye Diallo: President of the Economic Affairs and Sustainable Development Commission of the Guinean Parliament

– Alha Jimbo: Member of the Gambia and Pan-African Parliament

– Unnamed Senator from Nigeria

Youth Participation in Digital Governance: Insights from the IGF Parliamentary Track

This summary provides an overview of a discussion on youth participation in digital governance and policymaking, held as part of the Internet Governance Forum’s (IGF) parliamentary track. The event brought together parliamentarians and youth leaders from various countries, exploring strategies for engaging young people in legislative processes and decision-making regarding digital technologies and artificial intelligence.

Introduction and Context

The discussion, moderated by a representative from the Inter-Parliamentary Union, aimed to bridge the gap between policymakers and youth in the realm of digital governance. Participants spoke in both English and French, highlighting the international nature of the dialogue.

Key Themes and Contributions

1. Increasing Youth Representation in Politics

Sahar Albazar, a Member of Parliament from Egypt, advocated for lowering voting and candidacy ages to increase youth representation. She highlighted Egypt’s efforts, including the World Youth Forum, which brings together young people from around the globe to discuss pressing issues.

Dansa Kourouma, President of the Parliament of the Republic of Guinea, shared his country’s initiative of creating a National Youth Parliament. This body allows young people to debate issues and present recommendations to the national parliament, fostering direct engagement in the legislative process.

2. Empowering Youth Through Resources and Recognition

Tobias Bacherle, a Member of Parliament from Germany, emphasized the need to provide funding and resources to enable youth political participation. He noted, “We grew up with mobile phones, with smartphones… So many things that seem to be a change for all the colleagues, because they witnessed how media and media usage has changed, is for us rather something that we are completely used to.”

Ihita Gangavarapu, Coordinator of India Youth IGF, stressed the importance of treating youth as partners, not just beneficiaries, in policymaking. She called for institutionalizing youth consultation in legislative processes to ensure consistent and meaningful engagement.

3. Digital Rights and Ethical AI Development

Duaa Albalawi, Head of Y20 delegation at Y20 summit in Brazil, asserted that “Youth participation is not a privilege. It is a God-given right.” She called for building a global ethical framework for AI development and regulation, as well as empowering citizens to protect their data privacy and ownership.

4. Balancing Innovation with Traditional Values

Dansa Kourouma raised an important point about the relationship between technological progress and cultural values: “Do you agree with me that modernity, the race towards innovation and modernity, cannot be decided by the government alone? It is necessary for parliaments and parliamentarians to be convinced that modernity should not be the antipode of traditional values, of human values.”

5. Responsible Digital Citizenship and Security Concerns

The importance of responsible digital education was highlighted by several speakers. Dansa Kourouma emphasized the need to educate youth on the responsible use of technology and social media.

An unnamed Nigerian Senator introduced a note of caution, stating, “Countries are not run on social media. Countries also have, I mean, the youth, as they are doing the engagement, as they are on social media, they must also know that certain things border on national security.” This comment highlighted the need to balance digital engagement with awareness of broader national concerns.

6. Strategies for Youth Engagement

Several practical strategies were proposed to enhance communication and collaboration between young people and policymakers:

– Using social media and digital tools for political communication (Tobias Bacherle)

– Creating mentorship programs connecting youth with parliamentarians (Sahar Albazar)

– Broadcasting parliamentary debates on social media platforms (Dansa Kourouma)

– Establishing mechanisms for youth to directly petition parliaments (mentioned by multiple speakers)

Conclusion

The discussion underscored the critical role of youth in shaping a more inclusive digital future and the need for sustained efforts to empower their participation in governance processes. It highlighted the importance of balancing technological progress with cultural values, security considerations, and responsible use of technology.

The moderator concluded the session by thanking the participants and inviting them to future IGF events, emphasizing the ongoing nature of this important dialogue on youth participation in digital governance.

Keith Andere: the colleagues 33 seconds to just say their name and one interesting thing about them so that the colleagues can remember who you are and what is interesting about you. So we always talk about future generations and the future is now so as the future generations are the most affected by our global future young people have a leading role in the digital transformation journey in all aspects you know through our dedicated youth track a global network of young people active in the digital sphere has organized workshops across all regions around the theme empowering youth leaders for trusted AI which will culminate into the IGF 2024 youth summit that has already happened for some of you who already followed that and this session just brings together youth leaders and parliamentarians to foster a dialogue on priorities and perspective for a more inclusive digital future so having said that I want to give my able panelists just 30 seconds 33 seconds to say your name and something interesting about yourself thank you maybe I’ll start on my far right

Sahar Albazar: thank you my name is MP Sahar Albazar I’m from Egypt something to remember me with I am one of the young women parliamentarians in Egypt but I will forever be young at heart

Ihita Gangavarapu: hi everyone good afternoon I’m Aihita Gangavarapu the coordinator of India Youth IGF so it’s a pleasure to be here and one interesting thing about me the fact that I belong to one of the most one of the most populous nations and with more than 50% of the population is young people and it’s a privilege to be working with young people in the last seven years

Duaa Albalawi: hi everyone my name is Dua Al-Blouie a fun fact about me is my name is Dua which means prayer in Arabic because I was actually born premature at six months old and my parents thought I was going to pass away a little bit about me and why I’m here today so I actually headed the Y20 delegation at the Y20 summit in Brazil earlier this year so hopefully today I’ll be sharing our collective perspective as G20 countries thank you so much

Keith Andere: thank you Dua and the honorable speaker you have the floor

Dansa Kourouma: merci beaucoup je suis Dansa Kuruman je suis le président du parlement de la République de Guinée dans la capitale de Conakry et je suis médecin de formation et avant d’être au parlement j’étais le président du conseil national de la société civile de la Guinée donc de l’hôpital à la société civile et aujourd’hui à la tête du parlement merci merci beaucoup

Keith Andere: so we’ll go straight to the meat and the flesh of the discussion today and it’s only obvious that we start off with our members of parliament and so I’ll put straight the questions to you from your perspective as members of parliament how can young people most effectively contribute to the policy making and legislative procedures maybe you can provide some concrete examples from your respective countries and parliaments if you may

Sahar Albazar: sure thank you so much for the important question I would start with that young people are not only the future but they are our active contributors and in our present time for policies and legislations I will give few examples in Egypt how we can engage young people in our processes in 2017 for example our president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi launched the World Youth Forum which is a platform where we bring young people from all around the world to come and spend almost a week in Egypt where they come together have voice and this platform yield at the end of the day a collective voice of Egyptian young people who created an entity or a body called the Coordination Committee for parties young leaders and youth leaders and politicians this committee now have in parliament 31 MP and 12 in our senate so we were able to move these young people from only a platform they were just voicing their wishes to be part of the parliament that’s one of the initiatives another thing is which is very close to my heart it’s the simulation of the parliament where we go to schools and the students have simulation for the parliament and after they do the simulation we do a competition and the winner the winning school will have the group of these students come to the parliament itself to live the real parliamentary experience so this is very close to my heart because we are not only trying to empower youth we also include the children in the schools which is very important for the coming generations sorry I thought someone was speaking another thing is mentorship this is also very important because usually when you ask a kid in the school or a young person in a university what would what what do you want to do when you grow up how or where do you see yourself in the future being a politician is not something that is close to the mind so mentoring them and having MPs who are close to their age a little bit it’s very important to to have role models that really can speak to you can use your language understand your issues that you feel comfortable speaking with so mentorship is very very important and I personally always volunteer in my time to mentor African youth and also there are networks for global youth where I spend more time trying to mentor young people another important aspect for me is or tool that we as parliaments and as governments and as countries can use is to reduce and decrease the the running age running for elections age. So, for example, in Egypt in 2014, when we have the constitution change, we changed the age, the minimum age for running from 30 to 25. And in my global advocacy work, we’re trying to push to have the age of having driving license, which is the same age where you can vote, can be the same age where you can run. Because if you are wise enough to choose who to vote for, you’re definitely wise enough to run if you want. And you can find other countries, like in the US, in a state level parliament, like in Vermont, their parliament, all the representatives are starting 18. So this is also an example of how you include and engage young people in the process of decision making and policy making. I will end here, so I can give the rest time to contribute.

Keith Andere: So that sounds very interesting. And I like how you’ve closed it by saying, you know, the importance of making sure, and I think it’s practical in most of our countries, that we can’t run at the age where we start voting. So that is something to point about. But we have another colleague, Honorable Tobias, who is a member of parliament from Germany, who is connected online. But before we come to him, the Honorable Speaker would like to make a statement. So I would like to invite him to share his statement.

Dansa Kourouma: Thank you, Honorable Moderator. For my part, I would like to start by thanking the Saudi authorities and all the organizers of this forum, which is of indisputable relevance. And if you visit Riyadh, you have the obligation to be convinced of a reality, that modernity and the conservation of authentic values are considerable. There is a possibility of having a dialogue between the race towards modernity, while keeping the traditional values, the authentic values. This is the most important observation in Riyadh. So this leads me to develop my thesis on a certain number of considerations, which are both the responsibilities of parliaments, but also the responsibilities of states. Do you agree with me that modernity, the race towards innovation and modernity, cannot be decided by the government alone? It is necessary for parliaments and parliamentarians to be convinced that modernity should not be the antipode of traditional values, of human values. Because my conviction is that any economic, scientific and technical progress that leaves the human value behind is counterproductive. This is why when we talk about artificial intelligence, we talk about robotics, we talk about everything that is considered from a technological point of view today, we must be vigilant that scientific and technological progress does not leave the human being, does not leave human values in the background. This is why parliamentarians are led to legislate while taking into account the aspirations of their people. This is why technological progress is impossible without the adhesion of parliaments, which are the representations of the different diversities that make up the countries. The second consideration that seems to me to be important is that artificial intelligence is a decision-making tool, and it is a decision-making tool that must be made by the government. It is a decision-making tool, and it is a decision-making tool that must be made by the government. It is also an opportunity, but we are responsible as parliamentarians to provide countries with better laws, better policies and programs that enable the use of artificial intelligence to be humanized. But the question of knowing whether we should go towards artificial intelligence is no longer a question. It is a reality, it is an essential perspective. But how to go about it? We must be guaranteed by laws, laws that prevent drift, laws that prevent dehumanization, laws that prevent the recolonization of countries that have not advanced in terms of technology. Because if colonization by man has been difficult to support, technological colonization is even more serious because we are dealing with machines, we are dealing with systems that are not human. So, it is extremely important that national laws are put in line with international laws. This is why national laws alone are not enough to frame, to tame artificial intelligence. Conventions and international laws must be rethought between countries through cooperation between states and the involvement of the United Nations and other organizations and other international bodies. This is what can guarantee the use of artificial intelligence today for the well-being of the population, for social and economic progress. I would like to add a third element from the point of view of consideration. It is education and digital solidarity. As I said earlier in my introduction, if I am present at this meeting to represent my parliament, it is to make the countries that have advanced in terms of technology understand that they will not feel safe unless other countries are at the bottom of the scale. We need solidarity because communication today, the reduction of gaps between nations, between peoples, is a challenge to the current world. This is why we must not accept that the gap grows between countries that have advanced and countries that are poor. If the world is a planetary village, it means that we must communicate with each other, we must help each other. This is why solidarity and digital education, especially for the benefit of youth, is an extremely important alternative for countries. I would like to add one last element. Our young MP earlier referred to the reduction of the age to participate in elections in countries. This is also the responsibility of the parliament. I am giving a consideration. In my country, 75% of young people participate in elections. 70% of the population is under 40, 75% of the population. But there are less than 20% of young people under 40 in parliament. This is a paradox. This is why parliamentarians must be extremely vigilant and that laws must reflect the needs of the population, the needs of society. It should not be dictated by interests, by sovereignty, necessarily. It is the possibility given to the entire population to participate in public governance. For me, this is extremely important. In my country, the age to be a deputy was 25 years. We reduced it in the new constitution to 21 years to allow 75% of the population to participate. And the age for the presidential election, we reduced it to 35 years to allow young people, according to the African Charter of Youth, to also participate in the presidential elections. To conclude my remarks, the Internet, artificial intelligence, is a way to improve democratic governance today, in particular to facilitate the participation of all layers of the population wherever they are in the elections. Artificial intelligence, the digital, allows to reduce the constraints related to the participation of one and the other. But beware, it is also an open door to electoral fraud. If the laws and conventions are not respected and the developed countries do not cooperate with the underdeveloped countries to regulate the use and use of the Internet for the good of the population. I am for the Internet, I am for artificial intelligence, but I am for the responsibility of parliamentarians, the responsibility of states and international institutions so that the Internet does not constitute an uncontrollable monster that dehumanizes the world instead of facilitating prosperity and accelerating growth and global development. Thank you.

Keith Andere: I believe we will resonate with. And for us who come from Africa, some of us will remember the Not Too Young to Run campaign, which was influencing and urging young people to take up this space. So this is a very, very valid conversation. So we will take up Honorable Tobias, who is a member of parliament from Germany. Unfortunately, our display screens are doing the tech thing, so we are not able to see him, but I believe we can hear him. Tobias, if you can hear me, just say hello.

Tobias Bacherle: Hi, good to hear you. At least I can see you as well so. Well, I can promise everyone that you’re handsome. So please go straight to answering the questions. Thank you. Yeah, thank you very much. And first of all, sorry, I cannot be there in person. Maybe that’s a fun fact I have for you. I had to vote on our snap elections yesterday. And since we have plenary tomorrow, again, I was not able to fly over for just half a day. But I’m very sorry for that. I think it’s very interesting to talk about young people in politics, in the field of digitalization. Because, I mean, of course, there is, we already heard about young people playing plenary sessions. And I think this is incredibly important. Young people are our future. They are the future of our democracies, of our parliamentarian systems as well. But besides that, it’s also important to have a different way of communication with them. And I mean, I don’t mean that they should be not taken serious. I don’t don’t mean that. Just talk to them as you would talk to any citizen, of course. But they have different ways of communication. And yeah, many, many older people by now also use WhatsApp and Facebook and Instagram and so on. But I think there’s one very important difference for, and I’m still saying I turned 30 now. So I’m not really young, young, young anymore. But I still would take myself into the younger generation. We grew up with mobile phones, with smartphones, and so on. When I was, I think, 12, the iPhone was introduced. So many things that seem to be a change for all the colleagues, because they witnessed how media and media usage has changed. is for us rather something that we are completely used to, that is the environment we grew up with, that we feel comfortable getting information and also having political debates. And I think this is important to take into account. We see many older colleagues, many very smart politicians that drive their platforms throughout digital communication skills. But I think very often, if we look very closely, there are younger people involved that are actually driving that campaign, that are pushing for those parts in the campaign. But there is also a different or second part in having that perspective on digital communication tools, because I would argue digital communication tools and the platforms that I have mentioned before, and I mean, those are huge companies that have a certain interest making money, but they also provide a critical infrastructure for our political debates. And I think this is something, as much as I value older colleagues and sometimes even envy how much they have experienced and how much they also can recall from their memory, I think what I just described in a matter on how do we communicate to young people also goes for how do we politically approach digital topics? How much value, how much central points do we give to digital communication tools? And what I often experience is that older colleagues, if they don’t understand something, in Europe, we have that when it came to telegram, we had the big demonstrations around the corona. Basically, jump to was like being a bit afraid and deciding to talk about, shall we forbid telegram? How can we shut down that kind of information system? And I think that’s something we should not do. The contrary, and many young people were like, excuse my language, but we’re like, what the fuck are you talking about? First of all, how do you want to do that on technical level? And second of all, this is our information space. We don’t shut down your TV stations or your newspapers as well. And I think having that part within the debate is incredibly powerful. And it again, involves young people also in politics because it’s topics that are very close to their heart and reflect their reality.

Keith Andere: Thanks Tobias. I think what you’re talking about, especially the political communication and the role of digital tools to support political communication is a very big conversation. Now that you’re talking about young people being behind the keyboards, supporting key political players around this and the issue of shutdowns, be it platform shutdown, be it throttling of the internet, are very big and pertinent conversations that I’ve had from various young people and various forums that we are here. And I think it’s important that this has come out from a young parliamentarian from a Global North perspective. So we’ll dive straight to our youth leaders and not to gag you, just maintain three minutes of time so that we are able to flow. I can see already hands coming up and it’s not yet time. So young people are critical voice in digital governance. Do you agree? At least we can agree. As dedicated youth representatives, what would you like members of our parliaments to consider in the legislative procedure? And maybe what are some of the obstacles and further including youth perspectives in digital governance? Over to you. Perfect, three minutes. Okay.

Ihita Gangavarapu: Hi everyone, I’m Aihita. So I’d like to start off with talking about the vision of the internet itself, right? Me personally, as a young person would want the internet to be a truly digital public infrastructure that is secure, safe, reliable, and accessible for all. Now, this is not something that’s possible just by young people or just by lawmakers. It’s a cooperation and collaboration between the both. So that brings us to your question around legislative procedures. And the most important aspect of the legislative procedure is for it to truly empower all of us. And that’s possible if we have an inclusive policymaking and legislative procedure. And when I say that, I’m talking about real youth participation. So youth itself is not a monolith. We, within the young people category, we have different stakeholders from different economies, different cultures, different languages, different understanding of technologies in the societies. So inclusion, especially from the consultations part of it, especially when we have the bills coming out in India, whenever there is a bill, since being the coordinator of Youth IGF, we ensure that whenever there’s a public consultation, young people are made aware, and we as a community of young people make sure our comments and inputs are provided to the consultation on the bills. Similarly, the tokenism aspect, there should not be any tokenism. There has to be real participation. and such that the outcomes are incorporated in the actual outcomes. And when we talk about consultation, there has to be mechanisms to ensure that the young people are drawn towards these consultations. The inputs are provided, they are made to understand why it is important to voice themselves. The second thing with respect to legislation that I talk about is contextualized legislation design. This is important because although legislation could be at the national level, but the adaptation of it is from a local level. So it’s important to understand the local disparities that could be with respect to digital access and digital literacy. And this is where I think a lot of cooperation with grassroots youth initiatives would help. Moving forward, the last point, or maybe rather second last if we have time, is that I want to talk about the accountability aspect in the legislation. So when we, you know, working with young people in the last seven years, cyber fraud, radicalization on the internet, misinformation, cyber safety are among some of the concerns that extensively they talk about. So when we are designing these legislations, we have to ensure that the accountability is present in protecting the digital rights of youth. And the last point, not to rush, is to understand the impact of the legislation. This is the impact assessment. The impact studies and how these laws affect young people, their rights, their societies, their access, as well as their opportunities has to be put together to ensure a holistic framework. Thank you.

Keith Andere: So Keewa, youth participation by design, youth engagement by design. Super. Dua, do you wanna?

Duaa Albalawi: Sure thing, thank you so much, Keith. So I really want to start off by saying that from my experience at the Y20 of this year, there is no one and done approach to policymaking, especially when it comes to digital governance, given that technology has been rapidly evolving at an unprecedented rate that none of us has experienced in the past. Now, when it comes to youth, they’re a key stakeholder in this rapid development of technology. And not only should they be involved, but they should be consulted when it comes to steering our policymaking direction. Now, for example, forums like the G20 Youth Summit occur on an annual basis and provide insights on the youth stance globally on very different topics, including digital governance. And if you allow me, I would really like to take this opportunity to highlight two of the youth policies that emerged in the sphere during our negotiations in Brazil this past August. So when it comes to artificial intelligence, and as His Excellency Danza has mentioned, youth are calling on our leaders to build a global ethical taxonomy for the development of AI. And it’s political security and informational implications by creating, one, AI auditing frameworks for fair, accountable, and most importantly, unbiased AI systems. Two, putting measures in place to ensure a fair transition for workers to ensure that no one is going to be left behind. And lastly, putting in place national commissions that analyze the impact of AI and propose national regulatory frameworks. Now, on the other hand, another topic of discussion when it comes to data and privacy, the youth are really calling on leaders to empower citizens when it comes to their relationship to these platforms and the use of their personal. data. Now, this includes developing ethical standards of data management, but most importantly, sovereignty to enable citizens to actively protect their privacy and examine the feasibility of establishing private ownership over each individual’s personal data. Now, when it comes to your question on obstacles of including youth perspectives in digital governance, my answer might be a bit unconventional, but I truly believe one of the biggest obstacles from both sides, the senior stakeholders and the youth, is the gap in communication. From my experience, I’ve observed a very big disconnect in how the youth and members of Parliament and members of government communicate and share these ideas, where youth, and justifiably so, are typically very forthcoming and relentless in their communication, which can be very hard to receive and digest for senior stakeholders. But this is where the responsibility of senior government stakeholders truly lies in mentoring and guiding these passionate youth to polish and fine-tune their demands. Now, I believe our MP, Sahar, has mentioned a few incredible examples of how youth can participate to address some of these key challenges in the digital governance space, so I might not expand too much on that. But another issue that I really wanted to bring to the table is the point on fair compensation for youth participation. Youth participation is not a privilege. It is a God-given right. And youth have incredibly insightful and creative solutions that sometimes are not recognized or compensated for. So I would really like to highlight an approach that emerged from our Y20 deliberations, where youth are calling on leaders to increase and incentivize youth participation in local, regional, and national governments through establishing diverse and, most importantly, paid engagement initiatives, such as youth parliaments and advisory councils, while leveraging and also facilitating maybe public and private partnerships to try and aid this funding and ensure that youth contributions are conserved in their policymaking efforts. Now, of course, I would just like to close on a very positive note and highlight that the session that we’re in today truly showcases a remarkable effort from members of parliament to empower the voices of youth on the global stage, so I just really want to take the opportunity to thank everybody for giving us the stage today. Thank you so much.

Keith Andere: Thank you, Jo. Already we have had very concrete, you know, recommendation and actions and things that are able to move us forward from where we are sitting because somebody was already talking on tokenism, you know, so these are very concrete, you know, actions that you’re already talking to us. So this next session is, for me, what is most exciting because we’ve been doing the talking and they’ve been doing the listening, and so it’s our turn maybe to listen to them, maybe perhaps answer. So we have a few minutes and I want to see how do I balance these few minutes and donate it to the audience in the room. By way of hand, I will invite a round of questions should we have a few which I can see some hands in the room I want to ask that we do the following we just say our name and we go straight to the point if your question can be in 60 characters we will be more happy because that means that more people are going to take the floor oh yes a tweet kind of question of course not the Elon Musk kind of tweet yeah so I see a hand here I see there was a second hand here and there’s a third hand sorry I see three hands okay oh yeah I see this one and then there’s another one okay so we’ll take those forums please say your name and be straight to the point if you have a question to any of the panelists and then we can all answer so that is for you there was second question here

Audience: yes yeah my name is Jose Keja from Ghana African youth IGF first of all I’d like to comment on honorable MPs especially our West African MPs for doing great work in that open door policy but I’d like to ask questions for all the MPs in the room how can we measure that open consultation with the youth? What kind of strategies are in place that can be measured, that can be quantifiable? Thank you very much.

Keith Andere: That is a powerful tweet. We had a question from a gentleman.

Audience: Thank you, Keith. My name is Noa Abdubeki. My question is to MP Sahar. I’m from Egypt as well. I’ve been in this ecosystem, the internet governance system, for a while, but I feel like I grew up watching the parliament plenary sessions on TV, but I feel like as a citizen, I lost connection with the parliament. I was wondering, we have a lot of experts in Egypt in different fields, especially when it comes to tech, but how to build this connection between those experts and the parliament and rebuild this trust and bond against it? I’m Srinath Govindarajan. I’m from India. I’ll keep my question really short. My question across the panel is, is there a cultural resistance for young politicians to be elected in the sense that our voters are less likely to vote for young politicians, and how do we combat that?

Keith Andere: Thank you. We’ll take this first round of questions. Just like the questions, please make your answer suitable.

Sahar Albazar: Okay, so I’m lucky to have two questions here. The first one is about the children and if exposing them on how the parliament works is a violation for childhood. We’re not going to kindergarten. We’re going to the primary age and people in high school. So they are actually in a few years, in two years, will be voting for the parliament. So they need to understand and be more aware. It’s like civic education so that when it’s time to vote, they can understand the process and they vote for the right person. I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name. So thank you for the question. I’m currently actually working on AI governance bill. And we have a lot of Egyptian experts, as you mentioned. And as a parliamentarian, I have to have round tables to discuss. So I always include everyone. It’s inclusive. I have private sector. I have experts. I have international organizations. I have civil society. Everyone should be included. So that’s how we bridge the knowledge and the expertise with the policymaker. So when you produce and introduce a bill, it’s evidence-based. I hope that answers your question.

Keith Andere: Yeah, those are the two questions that were directly to you. I think there was a general question from a comrade from Ghana. that was speaking to all of members of parliament. Honourable speaker, I don’t know whether you want to answer his question. How can we measure open consultation with young people? If there are any strategies.

Dansa Kourouma: That’s why at home, we broadcast parliamentary debates live on social media. Traditionally, the debate was on the radio and TV. But today, in our parliament in Guinea, parliamentary debates in the plenary and in the commission, you can have them on social media. All the social media that you can imagine, you can connect, ask questions. And the other element that seems very important to me is that we need to create opportunities for young people to be represented in parliament. The best way to do that, instead of young people being beneficiaries, they should be actors. That’s why lowering the age of participation of young people in parliament seems to me to be an extremely important opportunity. But there are obstacles. It’s access to funding. The policy, my brother from Ghana, in African countries, is reserved for the rich. So, to say that you are lowering the age of participation of young people and that young people do not have the means to raise questions and campaign, the gap remains. So, in addition to facilitating the access of young people, which is encouraged by the law, we need to set up funding mechanisms to encourage the participation of young people in the decision-making process. The last contribution is on children. In our countries, there is what we call the Parliament of Children. The Parliament of Children, we consult the Parliament of Children in Guinea on all the laws that apply to children. because they are students from 12 to 18 years old who are very bright, who are very critical. So when the Senior Parliament debates on education, on health, we give the floor to the Children’s Parliament, which is represented throughout the country, so that they can give their point of view. Indeed, the involvement of young people as voters is from the age of 18, but it is also necessary to allow a young person of 18 years old who participates in the vote, by choosing, to also be a candidate, because voting is a responsibility. We cannot create a disparity between the participation, the right to vote and the right to be a candidate. So legislation must lead us today to create a harmony between the age of voting and the age of candidacy for elections, in addition to the assistance that can be provided to young people for access to funds. For me, this is extremely important. Because I conclude, technology benefits young people in relation to the political process. You agree with me, in many countries, the Internet has changed the regime. There are bloggers who have changed the course of understanding the history of their country on a political level, thanks to tweets, thanks to videos on YouTube. They have led to the awareness of young people, who make up almost 70% of African populations, to become aware. So it is important that this awareness is well-parameterized, so that it is not used against the stability of our nations. So there is no miracle solution. We must try, by creating all the conditions so that young people can access, and also be safe in relation to information.

Keith Andere: Thank you so much, Honorable Speaker. I see, Tobias, I can now report authoritatively that the room can see you, and they can confirm what I told them earlier. So if you have any additional response, please let me know. I give you a minute.

Tobias Bacherle: First of all, I completely agree with what the honorable colleague just said. In Germany, in certain areas, we have a passive right to vote that’s 16 that goes for the European election and for local elections and in some parts also for state elections and in some local elections, even an active right. So you are able to run when you’re already 16 for local council and that combined with you have councils where young people vote their own councils and have their own budgets in that council. Then I think that gives to a very important part access. And I think access is the most important thing, because knowing in theory whom to write and where to go is great and knowing what hearing to watch and so on. But there is a lot of let’s be honest, a lot of informal ways to reach your parliamentarians, to reach your decision makers, to reach your teams and so on. And to get to know that the best thing is to get involved. And I think to encourage young people in that, it’s incredibly important. And we have in the German Bundestag, we have a children’s commission, a standing committee that’s only focusing and working on topics that concern children. And a colleague of mine that was chairperson of that committee for half a year, it’s always rotating every half a year. And in her six months, she decided to only invite children. So children all over from the country, they’re invited to the German Bundestag to speak there. And I think that was an adaptation of the multistakeholder or is a little adaptation of the multistakeholder process. That is important because long story short, wherever you have an open forum, wherever you have an open process, where people are able to participate when they want. And then on the second step, you reach out to those whom it might concern, who might be willing to actually participate and try to enable them, maybe through some program that gives them funding to travel to wherever you meet and so on, or to have digital formats as well. Thank you for that possibility today, for example. I think to have that kind of connection would be very, very great to see that in more places and see it in more political fields. And I think the IGF is a great opportunity to experience the multistakeholder process, but also to learn from the multistakeholder process. Don’t have closed doors, have as many open doors as possible and have them so wide open that people can actually step in and be willing and feel allowed to speak out. And if young people feel encouraged to do that and get encouraged, and the possibility when it comes to funding as well, because young people we heard that already don’t have that amount of money necessarily, either their parents have or often they don’t. So if we fund them, I think that gives an incredible opportunity to actually get involved and be part of any kind of political process.

Keith Andere: Thank you. It will be unjust to leave you out without a response. I think there was a gentleman’s question that was not responded to. So very quickly, we could respond to that.

Duaa Albalawi: Thank you. Absolutely. Thank you so much, Keith. I think on your question of are voters less likely to vote for young politicians, maybe the response to that is a bit convoluted. But in my opinion, I think a key driver to rallying support as a young politician really lies in the age demographic that you’re targeting. If you’re in a country where the population is mostly represented by youth, then it’s very apparent that youth would like someone from that same demographic to represent them and call for their needs and really address the challenges that they want to bring to the table. However, maybe if you look at countries such as Japan, where most of the demographic is mostly older generations, they might have different considerations and different challenges that need to be kept in mind. But I really think that’s where the youth’s ability to learn and gain credibility and expertise really comes into play because that evens out the playing field. So I hope that answers your question. Maybe I want to move to Ihida and see if she has anything more to say. That’s actually a very good question, and thank you so much for touching on the demographics aspect. But I also feel like in addition to that, there’s a lot of narrative around this, you know, that we have to change. And it’s just not us, but rather it’s so intergenerational that the older generations we expect very strong support in helping us change the direction of this narrative to ensure that people see young people as, which we are, as very skilled, informed and relevant to this generation and the future as well. So a lot of it also relies on narrative. Thank you.

Keith Andere: Thank you so much. So I see we have less than four minutes left. But because we’re all here for tech, I have asked AI how many parliamentarians are in the room, and it says it’s more than those already who are seated here. So I’ve seen a few parliamentarians from AI and senators from national governments and Pan-African and regional parliaments. So I will take the powers, you know, that I have to allow those who are willing one minute, not to make a huge submission like they do in the house, but one minute of intervention. Maybe I’ll give, because I have three minutes, I can give four or 50 seconds each, and then we’ll come to closing. So are there any who want, any takers? So there’s one here, there’s a senator here. See, AI is right. No bias. There’s another senator here. So those are three and we’ll keep it, and four. Okay, so 50 seconds each. If we have a roving mic, please do share to the four honorable members for 50 seconds. Thank you.

Audience: Start counting now. What I’d like to say to the young people, that parliament is a space that has been given a lot of powers to shape everything that happens, literally everything. It decides what education will happen, how health will look like. So young people must know, must become political in order for their issues to be addressed. So if you just abandon it to parliament because it’s an old people’s boring space, that is the reason why you then end up with bad laws. So every young person must be political in order to shape the quality of business that comes out of parliament. I think also I want to encourage the young people. The first time I was elected, I was 26 years old as a senator. I’m serving possibly my second into third term in the Senate of the Republic of Kenya. To build that confidence, be proactive, be conscious of the nation. Just start it from the grassroot where you are, from the village, from the town, from the city, and be part of it. And then finally, we run what we call open governance program. I know you have heard about the OGP, that is where we give what we call legislative integrity, legislative openness, and integrity and transparency. I thank you.

Keith Andere: Thank you, Senator.

Audience: Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Honorable Alha Jimbo from the Gambia and the Pan-African Parliament. What I want to say is exactly what is going on in Guinea, where we have a middle parliament called the National Youth Parliament. We have the same thing in Gambia. It is very good to have, simply because it mirrors the national parliament exactly. Where I sit in parliament in Gambia, that’s the same seat where the young parliamentarian from my constituency also sits. They discuss, they have resolutions, and they have recommendations that they forward to the national parliament. So you see that synergy between the real parliament and the youth parliament. It creates that energy. It actually allows them to see themselves as the future lawmakers of the country. So if you don’t have it, I think it’s good to encourage your parliaments to have such, so that they can see exactly what’s actually happening. You have to be on the table. Don’t allow yourself to be on the menu. Be on the table, know exactly what we are doing, so that when you get there, at any particular time, be it young or old, you are able to do the right things. Thank you. You can see that all the parliamentarians instinctively are standing up to speak. That’s what we do in the parliament. Well, I’m from Nigeria, and I also like to say Nigeria has a youth parliament. Indeed, as I’m a senator, I also have a senator youth that also sits, they also have their own speaker, just like we have the president of the Senate. And second part of it as well, there’s also a gallery that also allows youth to also participate and watch proceedings. And I’m proud to say I started as a student parliamentarian, and I wrote through the ranks, and today I’m a national parliamentarian. The only thing I’d like to emphasize, as we’re emphasizing the responsibility for youth to take more engagement, they must also have responsibility to also maintain the integrity of the country. Countries are not run on social media. Countries also have, I mean, the youth, as they are doing the engagement, as they are on the social media, they must also know that certain things border on national security. So as you want to have more space on the table, that more space on the table also comes with more responsibility. And the conversation will not be complete if you are creating more space on the table without letting them know that being on the table creates responsibility that they also need to be aware of.

Keith Andere: Thank you, honourable members. It seems that you have pressed something because I see two very pressing hands. Maybe they want to challenge that governments are not, you know, run from social media. There was a hand behind there. Is it still up? Yes. So, please make it very short. And then I’ll take the gentleman here.

Audience: Hello? Okay, good afternoon. My name is Matilda Moses Mashauri. Okay, good afternoon. My name is Matilda Moses Mashauri. So my question is, I’ve heard all the explanations. I also want to know what exactly, what strategies we, the youth, should use that will contribute to and lead to the digital transformation journey? What are the key steps and things like that, though? Thank you very much.

Keith Andere: Thank you. There’s a gentleman here. I hope that he will be as brief as the lady behind there.

Audience: Merci beaucoup. Je voudrais faire aussi comme collègue parlementaire. Je suis Alpha Abdoulaye Diallo, je suis président de la commission des affaires économiques et développement durable du Parlement Guénin. Je voudrais féliciter les panélistes et aussi remercier le président du Parlement Guénin pour l’opportunité qu’il nous a offert d’être à ce forum. Une expérience que je voudrais ajouter par rapport aux jeunes, c’est qu’il ne faut pas se limiter seulement au Parlement des jeunes et aux sénateurs jeunes. En République de Guinée, nous avons une expérience, ce qu’on appelle les conseils locaux des jeunes au niveau des communes. Dans les communes rurales et dans les communes urbaines, nous avons installé ce qu’on appelle les conseils locaux des jeunes. Et à partir de déjà au niveau de la commune, ils commencent à apprendre la vie de la cité, c’est-à-dire à participer à la prise de décision dans les communes et dans les quartiers. Et ensuite, ils vont progresser vers le conseil, disons le Parlement des jeunes et les sénateurs de jeunes. Donc je pense que la prise de décision d’abord doit commencer au niveau des communes. Ça permet aux jeunes de se socialiser au niveau de leur quartier, au niveau de leur commune, mais aussi de réduire beaucoup la dépendance vis-à-vis des technologies. Je vous remercie.

Keith Andere: Thank you so much. Can you make it 10 seconds? Okay, 20. 25.

Audience: Thank you, sir. Thank you to everyone. Quickly, you know, the new generation, I believe, they are not like our generation. They were raised with technology. I remember my son, he was two or three years. I’m professor of computer science. He locked my iPhone. I couldn’t open it. Two, three, really. So, whenever we come to them, even when they talk in the same room, as you know, they use, even they don’t talk, they use technology to, right? So, we cannot, my point is, we cannot always say, no, no, we have to guard them, we have to do this. Of course, we have to protect them, help them with laws and regulations, but doesn’t, we should not, they think we are, I’m sorry, we are ignorant in technology. Yeah, really. So, when I talk to my kids, they say, please stay away, you know, we know what we do. So, always you have to be open up, don’t think, okay, they are ignorant, they know nothing about this. They were raised with technology. They know almost everything better than us. So, we need to protect them. We need to help them, educate them, but also, what can I say? We have to be flexible because they will use technology in all aspects of their lives, despite our will.

Keith Andere: Thank you very much. Thank you so much. You know, you mentioned something, and it reminds me of one parent who was talking about how they were monitoring their children’s communication, and this is a Kenyan parent. And so, when they went to WhatsApp, they found that the child was, you know, using French to speak to other people because they’re using chat GPT and conversing in French. So, literally, the parent didn’t know what to do. But in 30 seconds, in the tutable fashion, I would like us to make very powerful closing remarks. If they forgot everything you said, this is your time. Thank you. So, we’ll start to my extreme right.

Sahar Albazar: Well, thank you again. I think I will underscore what Dua’a said, that the participation of young people is not a privilege. And I would add, it’s not a symbolic act. It’s a necessity for sustainable development and sustainable progress. Because whether we engage young people in structured forums or mentorship programs or directly in the policymaking process, they help us in having inclusive policies and bills and secure the innovative process and ideas. Lastly, I want to thank Saudi Shura Council for hosting us and doing great work in organizing this event. And also IGF for putting the effort and giving us the opportunity to be with the youth in the same room, which for us, it’s very energetic and very inspiring. So thank you so much. Thank you, everyone.

Keith Andere: Thank you. You’ve already met my closing remarks, but thank you. Yes.

Ihita Gangavarapu: All right. So I have four points. The first one is that we need to institutionalize youth participation through consultative bodies, structured forums, and mentorship so that we can make informed decisions and impactful decisions alongside all of you. Point two, that there are certain systemic barriers that, for example, around both digital and cultural, that if we can address, we can also participate. Point three, one something that was very important mentioned earlier was that you should treat young people as partners and not beneficiaries when it comes to policymaking. And last, one of the points that I’ve taken from the floor is that we need to be where we want to see a change. So we need to be at the table, and we are working towards it as young people, but we need your support. Thank you.

Duaa Albalawi: I’m going to keep this very short and sweet. I think we live in very strange times, and things are rapidly changing day in and day out. And the youth’s effort is absolutely crucial to building the future that we would like to experience tomorrow. So I guess that’s it. is my message to all the youth here in the room. Stay hungry. Stay passionate. Do not get discouraged. Rome was not built in a day. And it is very important for us to continue this fight towards shaping our own digital future. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Dansa Kourouma: Thank you, Mr. Moderator. I would like to conclude with two words. The first word is participation. And the second is responsibility. Why participation? Because simply bringing a politicized society is not the solution. All citizens are not obliged to be politicized. And an extremely politicized society also has consequences on social and economic progress. No, we need enlightened citizens who participate without complacency. So, the struggle for solutions is the right to petition, a popular veto that allows young people, through a certain number of signatures, to put the Parliament before its responsibilities. Because, Madam, the Parliament must not have a right to live or die over the people. The Parliament represents the people. These actions must be controlled by the citizens. So, I propose to those who do not have the popular veto in their legislation and in their constitution, that citizens, especially young people, must be given the opportunity to gather a certain number of signatures and express their concerns before the Parliament, and that the Parliament be obliged to consider the concerns and proposals of the young people. That is participation. The second element is responsibility. Yes, the Internet, youth were born with the Internet, they grew up with the Internet, but we were not born with responsibility, and we did not grow up with responsibility. Responsibility is acquired by education. So, I plead for a responsible digital education, so that youth can participate and avoid that young people publish on social networks 3D images of a protected military site, with terrorism, with everything that constitutes a threat today to national security.

Keith Andere: Thank you so much, Honourable Speaker, Honourable Tobias, you are the far on my far left. That’s why you’re coming last, not because you’re online.

Tobias Bacherle: No worries. Thank you. Thank you very much. I think, first of all, just see that young people and or it’s their future. It’s our future. Include young people and not as a game, but as people and voters and citizens that speak, think and engage on their own future. And that will be around longer than everyone who is older. And I think that’s important to see and to acknowledge. And the second thing is acknowledge the risks of digital transformation and digital tools. Yes, but embrace the chances, forge them, shape the developments and enable people and young people especially to, well, enable their self-sovereign digital journey and put that in the middle of policymaking. The young people and the people in general, the humans in the middle of our digital policies. I think then we can enable them, as I said, to to make their journey and to engage and to participate.

Keith Andere: Thank you so much, Honourable Tobias. We are three minutes into time. And so as we close, I would like to let the parliamentarians in the room know that a draft, an email has been sent to you that has the draft outcome. Please look at it and give in your comments for the parliamentary track on your emails. We’ll be happy to receive that feedback as early as possible to allow the secretariat and colleagues close on that. Lastly, I just want to thank again, you know, the. Saudi government and all the youth organisers and NADUA was our able coordinator and point person for all the young people from the host government as well as the secretariat. Thank you so much for ensuring that young people have an opportunity to interact with the parliamentarians and of course the parliamentarians, whether it was on your own accord or through the parliament. We hope that we can continue to engage with you. We are inviting you tomorrow at room number six, where the Kenyan delegation will be having a roundtable with members of parliament, so you’re welcome to come. As we close, I was your moderator, Keith Andere, until next time, thank you so much.

Agreement Points

Increase youth participation in politics and policymaking

speakers

Sahar Albazar

Dansa Kourouma

Tobias Bacherle

Ihita Gangavarapu

Duaa Albalawi

arguments

Lower voting and candidacy age to increase youth representation

Create youth parliaments and councils to engage young people

Provide funding and resources to enable youth political participation

Treat youth as partners, not just beneficiaries, in policymaking

Youth participation is a necessity, not a privilege

summary

All speakers agreed on the importance of increasing youth participation in politics and policymaking through various means such as lowering voting ages, creating youth councils, and providing resources for engagement.

Leverage digital tools for youth engagement

speakers

Dansa Kourouma

Tobias Bacherle

arguments

Broadcast parliamentary debates on social media platforms

Use social media and digital tools to engage youth in political communication

summary

Both speakers emphasized the importance of using digital platforms and social media to engage young people in political processes and increase transparency.

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers emphasized the importance of protecting digital rights and data privacy for young people and citizens in general.

speakers

Ihita Gangavarapu

Duaa Albalawi

arguments

Ensure accountability in protecting digital rights of youth

Empower citizens to protect their data privacy and ownership

Both speakers stressed the need for educating young people about responsible digital citizenship and the potential national security implications of their online activities.

speakers

Dansa Kourouma

Unknown speaker

arguments

Educate youth on responsible use of technology and social media

Balance digital engagement with awareness of national security concerns

Unexpected Consensus

Recognition of youth expertise in technology

speakers

Dansa Kourouma

Unknown speaker

arguments

Educate youth on responsible use of technology and social media

Recognize youth expertise with technology while still providing guidance

explanation

Despite emphasizing the need for guidance and education, both speakers acknowledged the advanced technological skills of young people, which is somewhat unexpected given the traditional view of older generations as more knowledgeable.

Overall Assessment

Summary

The main areas of agreement centered around increasing youth participation in politics, leveraging digital tools for engagement, protecting digital rights, and balancing technological expertise with responsible use.

Consensus level

There was a high level of consensus among speakers on the importance of youth involvement in political processes and digital governance. This strong agreement suggests a growing recognition of the need to empower young people in shaping their digital future, which could lead to more youth-focused policies and initiatives in digital governance.

Different Viewpoints

Approach to youth engagement in politics

speakers

Sahar Albazar

Dansa Kourouma

arguments

Lower voting and candidacy age to increase youth representation

Create youth parliaments and councils to engage young people

summary

While both speakers advocate for increased youth participation, Albazar focuses on lowering age restrictions for voting and candidacy, while Kourouma emphasizes creating separate youth parliaments and councils.

Unexpected Differences

Approach to youth expertise in technology

speakers

Unknown speaker

Dansa Kourouma

arguments

Recognize youth expertise with technology while still providing guidance

Educate youth on responsible use of technology and social media

explanation

While most speakers emphasized empowering youth through technology, there was an unexpected difference in how youth expertise is viewed. The unknown speaker acknowledges youth’s advanced technological skills, while Kourouma focuses more on the need to educate youth on responsible use, implying a potential gap in their understanding of risks.

Overall Assessment

summary

The main areas of disagreement centered around the specific methods for engaging youth in politics, the balance between leveraging digital tools and ensuring responsible use, and the perception of youth expertise in technology.

difference_level

The level of disagreement among speakers was relatively low, with most differences being in approach rather than fundamental goals. This suggests a general consensus on the importance of youth engagement in digital governance, but varied perspectives on implementation strategies. These differences could lead to a more comprehensive approach if integrated effectively, but may also result in challenges when prioritizing specific policies or initiatives.

Partial Agreements

Both speakers agree on the importance of using digital platforms to engage youth, but Kourouma emphasizes the need for responsible use and education about potential risks, while Bacherle focuses more on leveraging these tools for engagement.

speakers

Tobias Bacherle

Dansa Kourouma

arguments

Use social media and digital tools to engage youth in political communication

Broadcast parliamentary debates on social media platforms

Educate youth on responsible use of technology and social media

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers emphasized the importance of protecting digital rights and data privacy for young people and citizens in general.

speakers

Ihita Gangavarapu

Duaa Albalawi

arguments

Ensure accountability in protecting digital rights of youth

Empower citizens to protect their data privacy and ownership

Both speakers stressed the need for educating young people about responsible digital citizenship and the potential national security implications of their online activities.

speakers

Dansa Kourouma

Unknown speaker

arguments

Educate youth on responsible use of technology and social media

Balance digital engagement with awareness of national security concerns

Key Takeaways

Youth participation in politics and policymaking is crucial for sustainable development and progress

Digital governance needs to balance embracing opportunities with addressing risks

There is a need to bridge the gap between youth and policymakers through various engagement mechanisms

Responsible digital citizenship education is important for youth

Resolutions and Action Items

Lower voting and candidacy ages to increase youth political participation

Create youth parliaments and councils at local and national levels

Provide funding and resources to enable youth political engagement

Institutionalize youth consultation in legislative processes

Broadcast parliamentary debates on social media platforms

Develop global ethical framework for AI development and regulation

Empower citizens to protect their data privacy and ownership

Unresolved Issues

How to measure the effectiveness of youth consultation in policymaking

How to address cultural resistance to electing young politicians

How to balance youth digital engagement with national security concerns

Specific mechanisms for compensating youth for their participation and contributions

Suggested Compromises

Treat youth as partners in policymaking while still providing guidance and education on responsible engagement

Embrace youth expertise with technology while still addressing potential risks and teaching responsible use

Balance politicization of youth with focus on creating informed, responsible citizens

Do you agree with me that modernity, the race towards innovation and modernity, cannot be decided by the government alone? It is necessary for parliaments and parliamentarians to be convinced that modernity should not be the antipode of traditional values, of human values.

speaker

Dansa Kourouma

reason

This comment challenges the notion that technological progress should be pursued without consideration for cultural values and human factors. It emphasizes the role of parliaments in balancing innovation with traditional values.

impact

This set the tone for much of the subsequent discussion about the need for responsible governance of technology and AI, considering both progress and human values.

Young people are not only the future but they are our active contributors and in our present time for policies and legislations

speaker

Sahar Albazar

reason

This comment reframes the common perception of youth as solely future leaders, emphasizing their current importance and ability to contribute.

impact

It shifted the conversation towards concrete ways to involve youth in current policy-making, leading to discussion of various youth engagement initiatives.

We grew up with mobile phones, with smartphones, and so on. When I was, I think, 12, the iPhone was introduced. So many things that seem to be a change for all the colleagues, because they witnessed how media and media usage has changed, is for us rather something that we are completely used to

speaker

Tobias Bacherle

reason

This comment highlights the generational divide in understanding and using technology, emphasizing why youth perspectives are crucial in tech policy.

impact

It led to further discussion about the unique insights young people can bring to digital governance and the importance of their involvement.

Youth participation is not a privilege. It is a God-given right. And youth have incredibly insightful and creative solutions that sometimes are not recognized or compensated for.

speaker

Duaa Albalawi

reason

This comment forcefully asserts the importance of youth participation and challenges the notion that it’s optional or a favor to young people.

impact

It sparked discussion about the need for fair compensation and recognition of youth contributions, shifting the conversation towards more concrete ways to empower youth participation.

Countries are not run on social media. Countries also have, I mean, the youth, as they are doing the engagement, as they are on the social media, they must also know that certain things border on national security.

speaker

Unnamed Nigerian Senator

reason

This comment introduces a note of caution about the limits of digital engagement and the responsibilities that come with increased youth participation.

impact

It added complexity to the discussion, balancing enthusiasm for youth involvement with considerations of national security and responsible engagement.

Overall Assessment

These key comments shaped the discussion by moving it from general statements about youth importance to more nuanced considerations of how to practically involve youth in governance while balancing concerns like cultural values, security, and responsible use of technology. The discussion evolved to consider both the unique perspectives youth can bring and the responsibilities that come with increased participation. This led to a more comprehensive dialogue about the role of youth in digital governance and policy-making.

How can we measure open consultation with youth?

speaker

Jose Keja from Ghana

explanation

This question addresses the need for quantifiable strategies to assess youth engagement in policy-making processes.

How to build connection between tech experts and the parliament and rebuild trust and bond?

speaker

Noa Abdubeki from Egypt

explanation

This highlights the need to bridge the gap between technical expertise and legislative processes in the digital governance sphere.

Is there a cultural resistance for young politicians to be elected? Are voters less likely to vote for young politicians, and how do we combat that?

speaker

Srinath Govindarajan from India

explanation

This question addresses potential barriers to youth participation in formal political processes and how to overcome them.

What strategies should youth use that will contribute to and lead to the digital transformation journey?

speaker

Matilda Moses Mashauri

explanation

This question seeks practical guidance for youth to actively participate in and shape digital transformation processes.