Increasing Youth Voices in the Sub-national Committees
Sroeurn Theara, a 21-year-old man from Takeo province, is a senior university student majoring in English Teaching at the Human Resource University, Phnom Penh. Just like other youth, Theara never had the chance to attend a meeting with decision-makers to raise his issues or concerns.
“Before, I never had the opportunity to raise my needs/concerns from my community direct to decision-makers at the National level because I was not confident, and I didn’t know how to communicate with the authorities or high-ranking people.” Theara mentioned.
In 2021, with support from USAID through Pact’s WE Act project, Youth Coalition for Unity and Development (YCUD) collaborated with PDP-Center to invite active youth to participate in a policy dialogue with government representatives to discuss youth needs. Theara was chosen as a representative of the youth group to attend the meeting with the representative of the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports, and the Ministry of Labor. This collaboration created space to improve the civic engagement of youth participants and the youth network established to hold constructive dialogues on issues affecting them at the national level.
Throughout this program, Theara received a series of leadership and soft skills trainings including the opportunities to join several pre-meetings with YCUD to discuss key talking points and rehearse for the final presentation..
“I am brave enough to speak in front of many people, and now I know how to speak with the representatives from the Ministry of Interior. I am happy to raise issues from our findings on civic and youth participation from our economic research” said Theara.
From the recommendations, Theara and his youth group requested the Ministry of Interior to add youth representatives to the sub-national committees and release public announcements to encourage youth and women participation in the committee election.
As a result, on September 29, 2022, the Ministry of Interior posted an official announcement to seek youth representatives aged from 15 to 30 as members of the Women’s Affairs and Children Committee in Sangkats at the sub-national level
Theara expressed that “This result is very important for me and the communities because it will motivate more youth to raise their issues and needs as they participate in the decision-making and development processes.“
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Disclaimer: This Snapshot Story is made possible with the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States government.
