Youth and Media: Political Engagement in New Spaces

"Young people in development are both a project of reform and agents of change. This population is not static. They engage on multiple levels.” – Dr .Loubna Skalli-Hanna, Author, Editor and Professor at American University, School of International Service

It is estimated that approximately half of the world’s population is under age 30. When youth make up half of all people – engaging them in our work is not optional but necessary. This is particularly important now, as we develop a post-2015 agenda to replace the Millennium Development Goals. These goals will undoubtedly influence the direction and practice of aid and shape the world that today’s youth will inherit.

In order to best include the voices of young leaders around the world, it is critical that we understand how youth communicate so that their concerns are appropriately and adequately addressed. Social media has changed our world, especially in the way young people engage with each other and decision makers. For many, youth and social media are intricately linked, and rightfully so. However, this is just one piece of the puzzle.

Dr. Loubna Skalli-Hanna, an author, editor and a professor at American University's School of International Service, recently presented some dilemmas on engaging youth at a roundtable discussion at InterAction. Among the challenges, she said, are that young people don’t trust rhetoric, youth (especially in the MENA region) are seen through a security lens, and some young people become “stars” for their activism – creating more tension and leaving them more vulnerable rather than helping their cause.

A key problem has been the lack of appropriate vocabulary to describe where young people are active. It was assumed that social media was used only to vent, not to converse or organize. The term “youth politics” has long meant what percentage of youth turns out to vote or joins political parties. In addition to these formal means of political engagement, youth are engaged informally through NGOs and cultural activities.

Researchers, development practitioners and young people themselves need to create new language for defining their roles, expectations and spaces as younger people prepare to inherit the responsibilities and challenges of leading the world, according to Skalli-Hanna.

Layla Belmahi, who co-founded a group of young people that fights sexual harassment in Morocco, described the complexities of working within the “youth movement,” a term that does not always capture the diversity of youth. “There are real cleavages between activists, even those with the same goals,” said Belmahi, whose group is called Woman Choufouch and who spoke at the recent event at InterAction organized by the Alliance for International Youth Development.

One major cleavage is the socio-economic divide between the privileged and less-privileged in Morocco. Language and internet access illustrate this divide. Elite education gives some young people the opportunity to communicate in not only Moroccan Arabic or Berber, but French, Modern Standard Arabic, and/or English, she said. Those without access to elite schools do not get the same language exposure. Furthermore, the wealthier have access to internet and are thus more able to use social media as a tool for expression and organization. Of course, this doesn’t mean that poor people can’t access information online – it’s just a less utilized tool.

On the other hand, when the internet is accessed, it can help bridge these gaps by equalizing the voices that are participating. Communication can be done only in the common language, without accents, dress, or other socioeconomic symbols to obstruct the message, Belmahi pointed out.

All of this has implications for language and education policies affecting youth in these countries. Dr. Skalli-Hanna points out that education is a long-term investment. The youth involved in the Arab Spring were mostly educated and responding to failed promises. “Youth feel they are in transition to full citizenship, so when promised development and empowerment initiatives are left unfulfilled, young people feel let down.” The failed promise leads to anger and intolerance against the status quo. Dr. Skalli-Hanna expects that new movements by more marginalized groups will gain momentum as internet access and savvy increase.

Changing laws or even regimes is different than behavior change. To increase inclusiveness in youth development moving forward, donors and program implementers need to evolve their vision and approaches to reaching young people. For example, scholarships for youth often favor the elite because of language requirements. There is opportunity as the global development agenda is progressed into 2015 and beyond. Social media is just the beginning – we must ask “who is talking?” as well as “who is not?” and engage with those who are talking because they can’t. Now is the time to include young people, who will be the middle-aged framers of the post- post-2015 agenda, to move our world forward.

By Bonnie Leko-Shapiro, who holds a M.A. in International Development from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. She has lived and studied in France and held internships in Morocco and Bosnia-Herzegovina.