Young people must be given more than an invitation to participate in Fiji’s political system – they must be recognised as collaborators and leaders, Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA) candidate Anne-Marie Vikatoria Raduva told the Parliament Standing Committee on Justice, Law and Human Rights.
Ms Raduva, representing young people from SODELPA, said excluding young people from decision-making spaces undermined democratic participation.
“To not include us is anti-democratic,” she said.
“We as young people, we demand to be seen, to be heard, to be represented, and to be included in all spaces.”
Ms Raduva made the submission to the Standing Committee on Justice, Law and Human Rights during consideration of electoral and related legislation.
She said young people needed security, opportunity, transparency, accountability and confidence to participate meaningfully.
Ms Raduva said representation was equally important in rebuilding young people’s trust in the system.
“One is representation, its important,” she added.
“So that we are not tokenised in a way where we are not invited into spaces and are not seen and heard.”
