Imagine discovering the hidden stories of your city’s streets, parks, and buses — all while taking a walk. That is exactly what CIPE and Future Forum are doing with their innovative “Policy Walks” for Cambodian youth. By physically stepping into the streets, these walks bring to life the everyday impacts of policies, from pedestrian-friendly zones and green public spaces to inclusive transportation systems. The gap between citizens and policy is not unique to Cambodia, and CIPE, along with its partners, is leading the way with creative approaches to spark citizen engagement around the globe.
Growing Citizen Investment in Policy
Policies have immense influence over citizen well-being in a given province, district, and country. Citizens’ access to safe, affordable, and convenient education, housing, transportation, health, and employment opportunities and services are just a few examples of how citizens’ lives are directly influenced by government policies. Regardless of whether policies are introduced at the national, provincial, or local levels, citizens have a stake in the decisions made.
However, citizens often exclude themselves from the policy conversation because they feel that they are unaware and ill-informed about policy, so the conversation does not pertain to them. Reinforcing this belief, policymakers and think tanks often fail to invite and ask for citizen input despite the explicit connection between these key stakeholders and policies. They are even more likely to exclude youth from policymaking, and the underrepresentation of youth is seen in almost every society.
Similar issues arise in Cambodia even though Cambodian youth are key actors in the country. According to the Report on the Cambodia Labour Force Survey 2019, Cambodians aged 15-29 account for 26% of the Cambodian population, 34% of all employed individuals, and have a 98% employment rate. However, Cambodian youth face tremendous challenges to participating in society with limited engagement opportunities, sparse information, and inadequate capacity-building support and resources.
In fact, a 2022 Transparency International Cambodia survey found that 51% of interviewed youth were unaware that they had the right to participate in creating commune or district development plans. Only 16% participated in these plans, and only 11% attended meetings, workshops, or forums organized by government officials. Despite current hurdles, there are opportunities to empower youth through activities that will benefit all Cambodians.
Educating the Next Generation on Policy Processes
CIPE and Future Forum, an independent think tank generating new thinking for a new Cambodia, are fostering the next generation of leaders by enhancing their understanding of the impact of public policy decisions on Cambodians’ daily lives and instilling the value of participatory public consultation processes. In the first step towards building an inclusive youth community of knowledge and collaboration, CIPE and Future Forum established the Youth Policy Forum (YPF) in May 2023.
The YPF is a youth-led research group focused on analyzing and proposing economic policy initiatives, and it is comprised of university students, young scholars, and other rural, marginalized youth. Building on the youth-led research, Future Forum is making policy tangible and enhancing youth participation in policy processes through “Policy Walks.”
Future Forum’s YPF members guide the Policy Walks for local youth entrepreneurs to experience the everyday physical environment through a unique policy-focused lens. On these walks, YPF members observe the impact of policy decisions on the daily challenges citizens face, such as urban flooding, traffic congestion, and barriers to youth entrepreneurship, among many others.
After the walk, Future Forum gathers the YPF members together for a co-design session to explore and propose potential policy solutions to the issues derived from current policy shortcomings. YPF members launch into the conversations by making connections between physical landmarks – such as few pedestrian-friendly areas – and everyday concerns, such as reduced spaces and opportunities for micro and small businesses to safely sell their products. The policy solutions suggested by YPF members focus on how to optimize existing policies and modifications to enable a thriving business-enabling environment.
A Replicable Model to Build Youth Leadership
Since 2023, Future Forum has conducted over 15 Policy Walks throughout Phnom Penh and surrounding Provinces, which have engaged over 150 youth participants. Moreover, including participants of all genders and from all educational, financial, and regional backgrounds produces diverse policy solutions through an open peer-to-peer exchange format. In these contexts, youth are learning from each other while boosting their confidence in participating and sharing their ideas. These walks illustrate that the YPF members and the local communities already have a fundamental stake in policy decisions and, therefore, should also have a say.
Future Forum and CIPE are building resilience in society by strengthening youth critical thinking skills, creating spaces for youth to engage with their peers, and fostering youth leadership skills. The YPF members and participants are developing the ability to make strategic decisions based on long-term planning to advocate and advance policy reforms. These Policy Walks can be applied as a replicable model across different countries and contexts to create the next generation of citizen advocates and policymakers.
This post was written with support from Aronsakda Ses and the Future Forum Team
Published Date: October 16, 2024