YOUTH MANIFESTO
Youth Manifesto
At the Youth Assembly 2025, young activists examined the challenges shaping civic space today from repression and misinformation to funding inequities and systemic discrimination, and proposed concrete, actionable strategies to defend human rights, strengthen intergenerational solidarity, and resource youth-led movements sustainably, and produced a Youth Manifesto that reflects the collective vision and advocacy priorities of youth civil society across five key pillars.
Manifesto Summary: Key Action Points
1. Conflict & Violence
Youth identified the persistence of conflict economies, human rights violations, and external interference as key threats to peace and civic freedom.
Call to Action:
Build collective, cross-border movements that challenge oppression, secure justice, and demand accountability in conflict-driven systems.
2. Funding Youth-Led Movements
With civic space shrinking and funding increasingly inaccessible, young changemakers call for a transformation in how resources flow. They advocate for ethical, transparent, and flexible grant-making, decolonised reporting, and direct access to funds that trust youth leadership.
Call to Action:
Strengthen local capacity and redistribute resources equitably to sustain grassroots innovation and autonomy.
3. Misinformation & Digital Oppression
Youth highlighted the dangers of biased algorithms, censorship, and unequal digital access that silence marginalised voices.
Call to Action:
Make digital spaces inclusive, transparent, and accountable through education, advocacy, and global cooperation.
4. Repression
Across contexts, youth face intimidation, surveillance, and the weaponisation of law against civic action.
Call to Action:
Design platforms and narratives that transform fear into collective resistance — making repression visible, and resilience unstoppable.
5. Power Dynamics & Discrimination
Generational hierarchies and systemic discrimination continue to exclude young people and marginalised groups from decision-making.
Call to Action:
Build intergenerational partnerships grounded in trust, accountability, and equal participation.
From Vision to Action
The CIVICUS Youth Manifesto is intended to be a living document. It represents the collective voice of a group of youth civil society and serves as an open invitation to partners, institutions, and allies to co-own its implementation.
It stands as a blueprint for intergenerational collaboration, ensuring that the values of justice, equity, and human rights continue to evolve through shared accountability and youth ownership.