As part of NPC’s Active Citizens for Elections and Democracy (ACED) project, funded by the EU, to promote a youth quota in government, a series of online meetings and research sharing sessions were conducted to empower youth to participate in the electoral process and to advocate for representation at all levels of government.

Advocacy meetings for youth and district partner representatives were held on zoom to identify and engage youth from various districts including Mannar, Kilinochchi, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Matale, Kandy, Badulla, Ampara and Batticaloa and guide them to plan local level strategies to advocate for a youth quota and political participation.

The topics discussed included planning campaign strategies at the local level, engaging with political parties within their respective local government areas, collaborating with journalists and social media personnel to promote advocacy efforts, preparing statements to support advocacy campaigns and using social media platforms and engaging with other community networks and sports clubs.

Another activity undertaken in January was the research sharing sessions on factors influencing voter preferences in elections, which involved sharing research findings with stakeholders to facilitate future advocacy efforts. Two sessions were conducted in Kegalle and Gampaha by Dr. Mahesh Senanayake and Ms. Chrishni Silva, two senior lecturers from the University of Colombo, for 35 participants in each district including civil society members, youth leaders and women leaders who engaged in discussions on the research findings and their implications for electoral processes. The sessions provided insights into voter behaviour. Participants expressed appreciation for the analysis and recommendations shared.