Youth parliaments serve as one of the entry points to introduce young people to the world of parliamentary politics and to bring their ideas into the parliamentary process. They are found in more than half the countries of the world. At this IPU-IPEN seminar, we had the privilege of hearing from esteemed speakers. Hon. Emma Theofelus shared her inspiring personal journey from Deputy Speaker of the Youth Parliament in Namibia to member of parliament and Deputy Minister of Information and Communication Technology. Professor Cristina Leston-Bandeira, Chair of IPEN, shared her broad experience of research into youth parliaments and proposed ways to assess their effectiveness. Initial presentations were followed by a lively Q&A with seminar participants, who are often involved in youth parliaments in their own countries. This seminar was jointly organised by the IPU and International Parliament Engagement Network (IPEN), hosted by the Public Engagement Hub.

Key issues: Presentation of Hon. Emma Theofelus - Youth parliaments in Namibia - 02:35 Presentation of Prof. Cristina Leston-Bandeira - findings of the research on youth parliaments – 14:55 Five principles to assess Youth Parliaments - 24:48 Q&A- 30:40 Personal story of Hon. Emma Theofelus - 42:38