The 2022 CoD Youth Forum, to be held in a virtual format on September 20, 2022 , will gather CoD Youth Leads and other young democracy leaders from different regions of the world to discuss Reversing the Democracy Disconnect. 

Young people have grown up in the shadow of democracy’s shortcomings through events such as the 2008 financial crisis, the election of populist governments, and the collapse of freedom in Afghanistan.

A multi-country study by the Cambridge University Centre for the Future of Democracy found that the steepest decline in satisfaction with democracy occurs in 18 to 34-year-old adults.However, an alternative movement within this demographic is responding to these shortcomings not by disconnecting from democracy but by working for greater democracy: the Community of Democracies (CoD) YouthLeads.

CoD YouthLeads will speak to their generation in the Youth Forum, bringing together youth representatives for interactive discussions to voice democracy priorities.  In the discussions and panels, CoD Youth Leads and external partners will dissect the challenges to genuine democratic governance and imagine together a way forward for democracy to thrive.

The Youth Forum will also mark an important milestone in the Community of Democracies YouthLeads initiative, the transfer of the Presidency of the Community of Democracies from Romania (2019 to 2022) to Canada (2022 to 2023). The Youth Forum will commit to continuing as a Romanian Presidency priority, welcome Canada to its Presidency,  and maintain support for the participation of the new generation of leaders.

The event will be live streamed. Stay tuned for more details!