One Young World’s Politician of the Year Award has been created to recognize the 5 most promising young politicians between the age of 18 and 35 years old from around the world who are having the greatest impact in their home countries and communities and have been using their position to benefit young people.
It is the first global award of its kind and has been created to counter the low level of engagement in politics and disillusionment with political processes which young people are experiencing around the world. Despite young people increasingly being recognized as playing leading roles in business and civil society, the level of youth engagement in politics worldwide remains disappointingly low.
In 2016 fewer than two percent of Members of Parliament around the world are under the age of 35 and almost 30 percent of the world’s parliaments have no members under that age.
This lack of representation carries with it a risk of leaving a generation feeling disconnected from the political processes of their countries when over half of the world’s population is under 30.
The purpose of this award is to highlight the work of those young politicians who are using their position to make a difference to the lives of other young people in their countries and to encourage others who are not in politics and may not have considered it as a vocation to do so.
The Award will be presented at the One Young World Summit every year. The inaugural Award will be presented to the 5 winners at One Young World 2018 in The Hague, which takes place from 17th-20th October.
The Award winners will be chosen by an international panel of judges with first-hand experience of politics. Their decisions will be based upon the work which young elected or public officials have been carrying out in their own countries and communities and the benefit and impact which it has had on young people.
Benefits
- In addition to receiving the award at the Summit award winners will receive:
- Access to the entirety of the One Young World Summit 2018 in The Hague, The Netherlands
- Hotel accommodation on a shared basis for the duration of the Summit, 17 to 20 (inclusive) October 2018
- Catering which includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
- Transport between the Summit accommodation and the Summit venue.
- Summit hand-outs and support materials.
- The cost of travel to and from The Hague. Your flight to and from The Hague must depart from and return to one and the same international airport.
- Please note that if you are ultimately selected for a Scholarship and require a visa to enter The Netherlands to attend the One Young World Summit 2018, you will be required to pay a Schengen visa fee yourself. The Schengen visa costs €60 EUR plus the applicable service charge of your local visa application centre. The costs of the visa and the applicable service charge, as well as any further costs associated with the visa application (including travel to and from the visa application centre and medical travel insurance required for your visa application), fall on you as the participant
Eligibilities
- The nominee must be between 18 and 35 years old
- The nominee must hold/have held elected or appointed office at any political level (local, national or supranational)
- The nominee must have had a tangible and material impact on young people in their communities
- The nominee’s actions should highlight the importance of political participation as a way to effect positive change
- Open to anyone as long as they currently hold or have recently held elected or appointed office at any political level (local, national or supranational).
Application Process
- Apply online through the given link.
-
Any applications received after the deadline will be considered for next years award.
Application Deadline: July 15, 2018
Application ClosedOfficial link
