Activate Programme

Activate uses three key strategies to stimulate youth participation. The first phase of the project is a series of 12 workshops taking place on a regional level for youth from selected social organisations, student boards (schools and universities), and national political organisations. The workshops are co-organised with the Defensoría de los pueblos (which can be compared with institutes such as the Ombudsman), the National Council for Children and Adolescents, the Ministry of Social and Economic Inclusion (MIES), and CORAPE, a network of 42 community radio stations. During the workshops, youth are informed about human rights in general and youth rights specifically. Using interactive approaches, youth participants are challenged to define barriers to participation. The experiences collected in the 12 workshops will be organised and presented during a national seminar. In addition, the information gathered in the workshops will be used for the production of an awareness campaign produced by CORAPE and distributed through 42 radio stations.

Another tool to stimulate youth to participate is the Activate website. The website is designed to promote the participation of youngsters in Ecuadorian politics and functions as a social platform to discuss politics and related topics. It also educates youngsters about the basic principles of democracy.

Finally, during 2012, Agora Democrática offered trainings especially for young talented political representatives, in political marketing. These participants were selected during the initial stages of the project.

Youth, Governance

According to the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD), since the adoption of the new constitution in 2008, a model of participatory democracy has been introduced in Ecuador. The current constitution as well as the National Plan for Development specifically refers to youth participation as one of the priorities and recognises young people as "...strategic actors for the development of the country". A baseline study, done by Agora Democrática revealed that the participation of Ecuadorian youth in politics is still very low; young people do not have an interest in getting involved or even to become well informed. This is also due to the lack of compatible tools for youth to stimulate their participation such as internet and other new social media.