Youth to promote conscious participation in elections

The Young Journalist’s Center of Moldova, a national organization that supports and develops the youth press, launches the civic education project “Young People Promote and Support Conscious Participation in Elections” on March 4. The project is aimed at encouraging the young persons to actively participate in the April 5 legislative elections, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting the Center. The organization intends to create two focus groups composed of 30 young persons that would generate ideas how their fellows can be motivated to consciously take part in elections. Thirty young persons from all over the country will learn about the state power division system, decision making and parliamentary elections during the pre-electoral and post-electoral periods. They will be encouraged to promote civic activism and democratic values among their fellows. The focus groups will formulate motivating messages that can convince the young persons to vote consciously. There will be worked out an audio ad for youth that will promote their conscious participation in elections. It will be broadcast at three radio stations popular with the youth. The young persons will also devise an animation with the same message that will be spread through the Internet. The “Conscious Vote of the Youth” message will be promoted via new-media solutions like Youtube or Facebook. They will be also engaged in election monitoring. The activities forming part of the project will be carried out during five months and will be nonpartisan and unbiased. The “Young People Promote and Support Conscious Participation in Elections” project is implemented by the Young Journalist’s Center of Moldova and financially supported by the National Endowment for Democracy, the U.S., as part of the Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections “Coalition 2009”.