Youth Voice Network
Youth Voice Champions shaping Electoral Commission work across Northern Ireland.
The Electoral Commission Youth Voice Network is a UK-wide programme that brings together young people who want to learn more about democracy – and support others to understand how elections and political participation work.
NI Youth Forum leads the Northern Ireland Youth Voice Network for The Electoral Commission, bringing together Youth Voice Champions who help shape the Electoral Commission’s work through consultations. Young people also support the development of youth-friendly resources and take part in designing and delivering youth-led events, campaigns, and engagement activities.
This is a video that the Youth Voice Champions created for Welcome To Your Vote Week 2024 to encourage young people to register to vote.
What the Youth Voice Network does
NI Youth Forum has worked with The Electoral Commission since 2022, and the Youth Voice Network plays an active role through learning, consultation, campaigning and youth-led engagement.
Underpinned by a youth work approach, the Network supports young people to build confidence, develop skills, and grow through meaningful participation.
Learning & Development
- Group work, one to one support and overnight residentials.
- Understanding what The Electoral Commission is and what their role is
- Exploring what democracy is and what it means to young people
- Learning about government systems and political roles and responsibilities
- Behind the scenes day to the Electoral Commission Offices
Consultations & Youth Voice
- Presenting to the board of the Electoral Commission
- Welcome to Your Vote Week theme
- Votes at 16
- Misinformation and disinformation
- Candidate intimidation at elections
- Electoral Commission website feedback
- Development of youth resources and tools
- Research projects
Campaigning & Events
- Youth-led events in Stormont and Belfast City Hall
- Meeting with politicians to amplify youth voice
- Attending a launch event in Westminister, London
- Delivery of Welcome to Your Vote Week campaigns across multiple years
- Social media campaigns
- Supporting youth-led outreach and engagement to increase understanding and confidence to engage in Democracy
Making resources accessible
A key role of the Youth Voice Network is ensuring that information and resources developed by The Electoral Commission are easy to understand, accessible to different audiences, and free from unnecessary jargon.
This helps ensure young people and adults can engage with democratic education in a meaningful way.
Youth Practitioner Training
In 2024, NI Youth Forum staff successfully piloted Youth Practitioner Training, developed with the support of The Electoral Commission and the Youth Democracy Resource. The Youth Democracy Resource is a co-created toolkit designed by Youth Voice Champions in the Youth Voice Network alongside The Electoral Commission. It provides practical session plans and activities that practitioners can easily lift and deliver in youth and education settings.
The training supports practitioners to build their knowledge and understanding of democracy, elections and political participation, helping to strengthen their confidence to deliver democratic education with young people in an accessible, engaging and impartial way.
Get involved
If you’re an educator, youth worker, or practitioner and would like to learn more about Improving Democratic Education, contact Arón below.
