OYEBO bolsters youth political participation

The US Embassy and Organisation for Youth and Elections in Botswana (OYEBO) programme plans to help efforts by Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to lure voters to the polling stations. 

In underscoring government’s commitment to democracy and youth engagement in Botswana the initiative seeks to increase countrywide youth political participation as well as increasing involvement in the political process by young women. The programme that will run for three months will involve workshops and trainings in village and community halls and kgotlas to sensitize the youth on the importance of voting. 

Topics for discussion include young women in politics; the relationship between economic growth and political participation, democracy and the rule of law and the multi-stakeholder approach to the democratic process. IEC’s target for the 2014 elections was 1.4 million from a population of over 2million as per the last population census in 2011. However only 824 073 people registered for the elections, with 455 869 being women, 368 204 being men and 387 870 youth.