World Youth Movement for Democracy Global Essay Contest

The World Youth Movement for Democracy (WYMD), a youth network of the World Movement for Democracy, invites young people between 18 and 30 years old to enter its Global Essay Contest. Fifteen winners (3 in each region: Asia, Central/Eastern Europe & Eurasia, Middle East & North Africa, Latin America & Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa) will be published online and distributed to a global audience. The top two entries will win an all-expense-paid trip to the Community of Democracies in Vilnius, Lithuania. This forum will be held in July 2011.

The essay contest is intended for youth in new and transitional democracies, authoritarian and semi-authoritarian governments, and closed societies, to encourage youth to reflect on democratic values, or lack thereof, in their communities. Click here for a list of eligible countries.

Essays are required to address one or more of the following questions:

1. "In what ways have young people contributed to democratic participation in your community? Highlighting some of the strategies and tools they have used, what difference have their efforts made?
   
2. New media and social networking are increasingly becoming popular tools for community organizing. In what ways have you and/or your organization been using new media for democracy promotion? How effective has it been and what challenges have you faced in using these tools?
   
3. What practices, do you think exemplify human rights activist protection or violation in your country that is not openly recognized? What do you think are the justifications for this and how can it be either replicated, in the case of a good example or stopped, in the case of a bad example?
   
4. What new factors can youth activists bring to longstanding human rights issues in your country? How have these issues been addressed in the past?at new factors can youth activists bring to longstanding human rights issues in your country? How have these issues been addressed in the past?"