IPU urges youth participation in governance

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) has pledged to take concrete measures to get young people involved in the governance of their countries.

The 134th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) assembly, themed "Rejuvenating Democracy: Giving Voice to the Youth," was convened in Lusaka, capital of Zambia on Saturday.

Zambian President Edgar Lungu, who officially opened the conference, called on countries to invest in young people so as to achieve significant development.

"As for Zambia, we feel the issue of empowering the young is long overdue. Specific actions must be taken. I strongly believe that it is assemblies such as the 134th IPU that can help achieve our goals of gathering and realizing all brilliant ideas of young people," the president said.

Youths have the potential to change a country's future if given an opportunity, because they are capable of bringing tangible results, said Patrick Matibini, speaker of the Zambian Parliament and host of the meeting.

However, huge barriers to their direct participation in the country's governance still exist in many countries. So, it is time for leaders in these countries to recruit more youthful members in the legislative system, said Matibini.

According to a new IPU report, called Youth Participation in National Parliaments 2016, the youth have chronically been under-represented in the world's parliaments.

It has revealed that only 1.9 percent of the world's 45,000 parliamentarians are aged below 30, showing no improvements compared with a previous IPU study conducted in 2014.

Recommended solutions in the report include raising the proportion of young people in government staff. Endi