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Dr. Eva Busza is the Regional Director for Eurasia at NDI. Previous appointments include Vice President, Policy and Sector Collaboration at the Council of Ontario Universities, Vice President, Research and Programs at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and Director of Policy and Strategic Planning for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. She started her professional career at NDI working on global democracy and governance programs.
The twin crises of our time – environmental degradation and democratic backsliding – are governance failures. They are the outcome of governments’ inability to deliver on urgent, complex problems.
For political systems to be representative, all parts of society must be included. When young people are disenfranchised or disengaged from political processes, a significant portion of the population has little or no voice or influence in decisions that directly affect their lives. As a result, young people are increasingly getting frustrated and turning away from formal political participation.
While public attention regarding COVID-19 has been focused on the health crisis and its economic repercussions, autocrats are moving quickly to Machiavelli’s maxim -- “never waste an opportunity offered by a good crisis.” Around the world, anti-democratic leaders are using the pandemic as a means of tipping (or skipping) elections, settling scores with political adversaries and channeling public funds to personal accounts.
Amidst a once-in-a-generation pandemic, another global threat has intensified and permeated across borders and boundaries: one of sustaining a liberal world order against illiberal influences. This trend is evidenced by consecutive years of decline in global freedom.
Since 2021, NDI has championed young people’s civic and political participation through the Speak Youth to Power campaign. Under this campaign, NDI is working to increase young people’s impact, influence and leadership in decision-making spaces and engage a more diverse cohort of young leaders.
Under the Speak Youth To Power campaign, NDI has emphasized the importance of young people translating their power to sustained action and influence over political decision-making and democratic processes. In support of NDI’s commitment to strengthening young people’s impact, influence and leadership, we spoke to some of our youth-led partners around the world.
As democracies across Asia face new and sophisticated threats to their integrity, it is crucial for the next generation of leaders to have opportunities to help strengthen their home countries’ civic institutions and democratic processes.
Since 2014, Yemen has been enmeshed in an armed conflict between Yemen’s government, the Houthi rebel group, and the international actors that support both sides, which has killed nearly 400,000 Yemenis and left nearly two-thirds of the country in need of humanitarian assistance. Many of Yemen’s political leaders who are supportive of the country’s internationally recognized government have been forced to flee the country since the Houthis seized control of Sanaa, Yemen’s capital.
NDI’s work around the world has shown that time and time again, people around the world overwhelmingly choose democracy to safeguard their human rights, produce prosperity for their communities, and effectively deliver public services. What’s more, democratic systems have been proven to foster global stability, deliver economic justice, and act as bulwarks against humanitarian conflict – making democracy’s expansion worldwide a key lever of U.S. national security.