Be Seen Be Heard Campaign

https://beseenbeheardcampaign.com/

Full report  here: https://beseenbeheardcampaign.com/static/media/UN_REPORT_TBS_ACCESSIBLE....

Young people have the right to be included in political decision-making. The Be Seen Be Heard campaign recognizes at its core that young people have a vital role to play in the decisions that affect us all. As escalating global conflict, the ongoing climate crisis and worsening socio-economic issues continue to plague our world, we increasingly need fresh perspectives to guide transformative political decision-making that breaks beyond the status quo.

That is why The Body Shop and the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth are collaborating on a global campaign to support young people's political participation and amplify young voices in public life.

Our call to action

The campaign's key objective is to change one piece of legislation or policy, or support
programming to promote youth participation in public life, in over 75 countries
around the world where The Body Shop operates.

Young people’s political
participation

Too often, young people are misunderstood as being apathetic or uninterested in civic, social and political issues. Yet even in the face of adversity and facing structural barriers, young people are continually stepping up as advocates, entrepreneurs and innovators who are leading change in their communities and holding decision-makers to account. Young people’s actions and unapologetic advocacy have moved the dial on diverse political issues, from climate change and mental health, to corruption and gender, to racism and socio-economic inequality.

However, while youth-led movements around the world have gained increasing momentum, we continue to see gaps when it comes to the engagement of young people in formal politics because of a variety of structural and cultural barriers which prevent them from fulfilling their right to participate in public life.

What we are
advocating for

To advance the needs and rights of young people, and ensure youth voices are meaningfully heard within public life and decision making, the Be Seen Be Heard campaign is focused on supporting efforts that promote policy and legislation change.

The Be Seen Be Heard campaign further supports programming that develops young people’s leadership skills; empowering the next generation of changemakers through capacity building and training opportunities.

Key campaign actions include:

Lowering the voting age for local, municipal or national elections: getting more people engaged and involved in politics from a younger age by extending the vote.

Removing systemic barriers for young people to participate in public life: challenging legal, social and cultural barriers that obstruct youth participation in politics or decision-making processes.

Increasing youth representation through the establishment and recognition of formal youth bodies: ensuring enhanced representation through youth councils, parliaments or committees.

Amplifying young people's leadership in policy development: ensuring there is a meaningful, accountable and long-term youth voice present in key policy-making spaces.

Global Youth Report

Did you know that 67% of people believe in a better future, with 15 to 17-year-olds being the most optimistic? Or that more than two-thirds (69%) of people agree political systems would be better if there were more opportunities for younger people to have a say in policy development and change?

The Be Seen Be Heard Global Youth Report, unpacks the structural barriers young people face in accessing their right to political participation and explores how we can all contribute to removing such barriers. It examines the ways in which young people are already engaging and contributing to our world, while also interrogating the basis for their exclusion.

Key findings:

76%

of those under 30 years old think
politicians don't listen to young people

8/10

people think that current
political systems need drastic
reforms to be fit for the future

69%

of people think that more
opportunities for younger
people to have a say in policy
development would make
political systems better

Be Seen Be Heard Global Youth Report

Through substantiating the issue and offering concrete recommendations for policy and
legislative improvements, the report provides a strong basis for local advocacy efforts
which seek to defend and advance the needs and rights of young people in all their diversity.