121st ASSEMBLY OF THE INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION

AND RELATED MEETINGS

Geneva, 19-21 October 2009

Youth participation in the democratic process

- panel discussion -

Senator Ovidius MĂRCUŢIANU

Romanian IPU Group

Mrs. / Mr. President,

Dear colleagues,

I will begin by congratulating my distinguished colleague from Croatia for her substantive, most insightful report.

My first comment is related to the celebration this year of two decades since the Fall of the Iron Curtain, a defining moment in the history of the 20^th century, which led to extraordinary democratic and economic progress in Central and Eastern Europe.  

During the period after 1989, young people in Romania, like in all other countries of the former Eastern Block, found themselves in a unique situation: born in a given system, they were to participate to its radical changing. For them – like for all young people living in societies in transition - social integration has been much more difficult, as they had to adapt to an environment in continuous transformation itself, with democratic processes in the making.

If we are to focus on the role of parliaments in enhancing youth participation in the democratic process, it is important to look at some successful models that we already have. I would like to mention for instance the Francophone Parliament of Youth, established under the aegis of the International Organization of la Francophonie and the corresponding Parliamentary Assembly.

This forum is instrumental in promoting representative democracy and in raising awareness on legislative activity; at the same time, it facilitates relations among young people from countries all over the world.

The support given by the Parliamentary Assembly of la Francophonie to national youth parliaments in member countries is also noteworthy.

As regards the institutionalized participation of youth, I will say that Romania embraced enthusiastically the idea of providing access for young generations to the work of the United Nations, a key objective of the Alliance of Civilizations. Accordingly, Romanian students, based on their particular interests, are included in our national delegations to the UN General Assembly and the specialized committee meetings.    

Dear colleagues,

Young people are the hope and future of a State; they are an invaluable source of social dynamics, economic growth and technological progress.

But if our world as a whole is youthful, Romania is facing a serious demographic aging, as result of the decrease in the past 20 years of the number of children and young people, in both absolute and relative terms.

Therefore our priority in Parliament is to reverse this trend, and we make efforts to enhance legislation and parliamentary oversight in the fields of health, social protection of families, mothers and children, and gender equality. 

Thank you very much for your attention.