Youth participation and engagement in elections and democracy building are important for the sustainability and growth of democracy. 

When empowered, the youth can spark and demand societal changes and reforms in key institutions. However, data shows that the youth are less engaged in democratic processes as they increasingly distrust public institutions due to erring public officials, among others.

The youth sector also remains to be underrepresented in governance. The global average of parliamentarians who are 30 years old and below is only 2.92 percent. While in Asia, that number is even lower at 2.20 percent as of March 2025.

Believing and investing in the power of the youth and hopefully inspiring the young generation in engaging in elections, the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) has implemented youth-centered programs like the Asian Academy for Electoral Integrity.

ANFREL is also a proud partner institution of the Global Service Internship Program of Tamkang University in Taiwan, a program which provides students an opportunity to expose themselves to the work of civil society organizations and engage in hands-on learning opportunities. 

In this episode of The Election Observer podcast, ANFREL talked to Prof. Cheng-Hao Pao, the dean of the College of International Affairs at Tamkang University and ANFREL interns under GSIP to talk about the program and the value of youth engagement in elections and democracy building.

Catch the new episode live on 30 July 2025 at 2 p.m. Bangkok time. “The Election Observer” podcast streams via ANFREL’s Facebook and LinkedIn Pages and Youtube channel. It will later stream via Spotify and Apple Podcasts.