People Powered launches program to make democracy more inclusive
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Youth representing the Pathways Policy Institute in Kenya present a “community memo” to the county clerk.
A major grant to People Powered is enabling a diverse coalition to focus on the inclusion of marginalized communities.
We’re thrilled to announce a new global initiative led by People Powered and its members. While government reformers are increasingly securing public participation in decision-making, marginalized groups are too often left out or excluded. This limits the impact of democratic innovations. To address this need, the National Endowment for Democracy has awarded People Powered a $400,000 grant to work with a broad coalition across the Global South to make participatory democracy more inclusive of youth, women, and displaced people (including refugees, immigrants, and internally displaced people).
“Inclusion is one of the most common challenges for participatory democracy,” says People Powered Executive Director Josh Lerner. “When participation programs are not inclusive, they are less likely to be trusted, generate broad public awareness, or mobilize communities. They are also more likely to be manipulated and abandoned. To address this systemic problem, we need more systemic solutions.”
The intitiative’s activities, which will extend through the first quarter of 2024, will include:
Workshops and in-person convenings among People Powered member organizations to identify best practices for making participatory democracy inclusive.
Creation of online courses and resource materials to help organizations implement the best practices.
Development of multimedia stories that bring to life the human impact of this work, to persuade more governments and organizations to make participation more inclusive.
Scroll through these thoughts from participants , explaining why they feel this initiative, at this time, is so crucial to their countries and citizens:
The consortium of local and national organizations that will plan and implement these activities includes:
Africa:
Eastern Europe and the Balkans:
Latin America:
Other organizations that focus on engaging youth, women and displaced people will also provide guidance and expertise.
If you have questions about this initiative or suggestions for ways we can partner with other organizations on similar priorities, get in touch: info@peoplepowered.org.