When people discuss youth in the Middle East and North Africa, the focus tends to be on young people’s potential for turning toward political and social extremism as opposed to more constructive options. Violence and unrest in the region have increased young people’s disenchantment with politics, frustrated progress, and led to hopelessness in prospects for the future. Youth are the largest and fastest expanding population group in the region. Political leaders have important questions to answer if they are to engage young people.

For many young people today, being civic minded and interested in addressing social problems doesn’t translate into traditional political engagement. In the U.S., the “best and brightest” are often drawn more to Silicon Valley than Washington, DC, seeking to solve social problems by means other than government—through volunteerism, the private sector or social enterprises. In the Middle East and North Africa, many young people find too few opportunities to engage the formal political system and, in many places, see closing civic space.

Roberto Mena wasn’t exactly sure what the Youth Leadership Academy was, but he knew he wanted to be a part of it.

A 26-year-old Honduran from the state of Cortes, Mena is an active participant in local politics. In fact, politics runs in his family, which includes political leaders who founded a local chapter of the Anti-Corruption Party (Partido Anti-Corrupcion, PAC), an opposition party that emerged from the political crisis following the 2009 coup d’etat against the Manuel Zelaya government.

Following the Arab Spring, new opportunities for political participation opened up in much of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, particularly for women, youth and minorities who had historically been marginalized and excluded from power.

Nearly six months after sustained citizen protests demanding increased government accountability for corruption, Guatemalans elected former comedian and actor Jimmy Morales to serve as the country’s next president last month. Campaigning with the slogan “not corrupt, not a thief,” political newcomer Morales defeated Former First Lady Sandra Torres with 67 percent of the votes in the October 25 run-off election.

When former president of Côte d'Ivoire Laurent Gbagbo refused to step down after losing a close election to Alassane Ouattara in 2010, it triggered a conflict that left over 3,000 people dead and hundreds of thousands displaced. This year, as Côte d'Ivoire prepares for presidential elections on October 25, NDI has been working with community-based organizations, such as groups of youth, women and interfaith associations, to conduct peace messaging campaigns in at-risk communities.