Traditional civil society institutions’ (CSIs) engagement with youth is at a crossroads. International development and human rights professionals generally acknowledge the institutional barriers to addressing pressing global challenges like growing economic inequality and catastrophic climate change, yet they struggle to make the structural changes needed to ensure ongoing impact. Civil society is more than formal organizations, yet formal CSIs largely orient their support around these non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Meanwhile, decentralized networks and social movements grow in numbers and influence, reshaping the civil society landscape and challenging global development organizations’ relevance and authority. From the Nuit Debout movement in France to Occupy Wall Street, these networks and social movements are often driven by a critical mass of youth—the most well-educated in this world’s history, with unprecedented access to information.
To the global development sector, youth seem more disengaged than ever. Yet, youth increasingly are involving themselves in civil society outside of formal CSIs and established channels. They are leading on global issues in innovative ways by launching organizations, developing new technology, using new media to surface injustice, sparking social movements and initiating community-led projects that make global connections within local contexts. In so doing, they are defining new approaches and making way for new understandings of citizenship and civic participation. In order for CSIs to effectively and proactively engage this new generation of leaders, they must reframe their understanding of youth leadership and civic participation to include the breadth of ways in which youth are participating and leading social change.