Recently, CIVICUS jointly convened a workshop with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to look at the role of civil society organisations in localising the Millennium Development Goals. The workshop was part of a broader conference on Reinventing Government.
The workshop drew on the participation and experience of the Children’s Parliament from the state of Rajastan in India. The Children’s Parliament is centred on some 4000 night schools in the state, which is attended mainly by young girls from 7pm to 10pm every weekday. Given the extreme poverty in Rajastan, many young girls are unfortunately expected to sacrifice their education to undertake various household chores and other economic activity, while their brothers go to school.
The Barefoot College initiative instituted these night schools several years ago to address this problem and to enable young girls and those boys that are burdened with trying to provide an income for their families during the working day to have access to schooling,
Arising out of these night schools, is a most inspirational story of a functioning Children’s Parliament, with democratic elections, with cabinet ministers and a fourteen year old Prime Minister.
The Children’s Parliament is responsible for quality control of the night schools and has undertaken impressive development projects but, most importantly, has given true voice to these inspirational young people.
One of the comments that were made several times during the workshop was that if you are poor and uneducated, nobody in power takes you seriously. While the representatives of the Children’s Parliament argued that this was morally wrong, they also were committed to their own educational advancement in very difficult circumstances.
CIVICUS has had a long standing commitment to promoting the role of young people in civil society organisations – not only in supporting youth organisations but also in attempting to promote young people’s roles in adult-led civil society organisations. We have and continue to encourage opportunities for young people to serve on the boards of civil society organisations, not only because they can benefit from the learning that such involvement brings, but also because of the unique, relevant and important perspective young people bring to our understanding of the state of our communities and the world at large.
In the run up to the first democratic elections in South Africa, Nelson Mandela suggested that the vote should be granted to all citizens from fourteen years upwards. Mandela figured that if young people were good enough to fight for their freedom, if they were serious enough that the apartheid regime would imprison, kill and maim them, then they certainly had the right to vote. More conventional thinking prevailed and South Africa, like many countries, set the voting age at eighteen.
Through this column, I want to suggest that the time is now ripe for an informed global public debate about the voting age, when there are growing concerns about the quality of democracy at the local, national and global levels. It is critically important that we recognise that young people are not simply the leaders of tomorrow, as adults love to say, but, in many ways, are the leaders of today. In parts of the world where the HIV/AIDS pandemic is decimating the adult population, teenagers are heading households. In times of conflict, young people are playing a range of heroic as well as destructive roles such as the awful phenomenon of child soldiers. Given the way information is secured today and given the growing access to the internet, young people today have as much, if not more, access to information than their parents. For a start, it would be worthwhile to open up a global debate about whether the voting age should be reduced to sixteen. This, one could argue, could breathe fresh impetus into failing electoral systems, would take election days into schools and would encourage political dialogue and participation from a young age. Some schools already run mock elections as part of their civic education, but this, on its own, might not be adequate or appropriate any longer.
On a personal note, as a father of a thirteen year old, and as a child activist in the anti-apartheid movement myself, I am mindful of two very powerful ideas.
Firstly, the lens through which children and youth see the world is different from that of adults in fundamental ways. This difference and diversity, if thoughtfully and sensitively dealt with, can generate better social outcomes for current and future generations.
Secondly, participation in public life at a young age empowers young people with a range of skills, knowledge and competences that will be incredibly valuable to them in their family, community, professional lives and potentially lays the basis for a lifetime of public service.
So what do you think? At a time when the world is gearing up for various mobilisation activities to hold the leaders of the G8 accountable to deliver on trade justice, debt cancellation and an improvement in the quality and quantity of aid, we would love to hear your views on this subject. Needless to say, many young people around the world are involved in planning the week of actions from 1 – 8 July 2005. Remember that we can all be part of this global effort by wearing a simple white band as a wrist band, head band or arm band, (or anywhere else you prefer, hopefully though in full view of the general public!!!), during the first week in July. Please circulate this piece to young people in your life and ask them what they think about global poverty and what they think about the voting age being reduced to sixteen. We would like to hear their thoughts, as well as yours. To our readers who are part of the global youth constituency, please write to us directly as well.
And as the song made famous by George Benson, and later on by Whitney Houston, “Greatest Love of All”, goes: “I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way; Show them all the beauties they possess inside; Give them a sense of pride and make it easier; Let the children’s laughter remind us how we used to be.” So whether or not you agree with the proposition that we should consider sixteen years as the voting age qualification , let us celebrate the treasures that our children are, as Africa gears up to celebrate the Day of the African Child, on 16 June.
Warmest regards,
Kumi Naidoo
Please send your comments and suggestions to e-mail kumi@civicus.org.
