TOPSHOT - A woman casts her ballot for Indonesia's presidential and legislative elections at a ... [+]
A social movement in Indonesia has used technology to inform and engage youth voters in a recent national elections.
In the 2024 elections in Indonesia, there were 107 million voters, with over half under the age of 40, but only 8% self-identifying as politically engaged.
Andhyta Firselly Utami, a former environmental economist and the founder/CEO of NGO Think Policy says her team started Bijak Memilih or "Vote Wisely", as a political education experiment to provide digestible and relevant information to voters so they can make informed choices.
Erica Chenoweth, a Harvard professor of public policy has written about the notion that it takes 3.5 percent of a country's population to push political change.
"This is caused by the lack of credible and accessible political information, along with the missing link between issue-based political processes," Utami says "We recognized the significance of accessible information and intergenerational collaboration in fostering a healthy democracy."
Utami says the project's team of young people reflected on the type of information voters would like to know about the election and choosing leaders, reading social media, incorporating memes and the latest trends to capture attention, and then following up with substantive discussions.
"We also create collaborative offline forums with communities (called BMx) to reach a wider audience and let them have discussions based on relevant issues in their respective areas or communities," she says, "Our survey revealed that 29 percent felt more optimistic about Indonesian politics, 41 percent of first-time voters aimed for deeper political engagement, and over 90 percent gained election insights through Bijak Memilih."
The team were able to capture the attention of young people, garnering 1.4 million unique website visitors aged between 17 and 40.
"We believe similar movements would be highly beneficial to be implemented in other countries that are holding elections in the middle/end of this year, to enhance understanding of election behavior among the younger generation, especially in places where there is a high percentage of young voters in the elections," she says, adding that Bijak Memilih aims to continue playing the role of providing civic engagement to its audience, including monitoring legislation and public policy implemented by the winning administration.
The project was also selected in the "Learning for Civic Action Challenge by MIT Solve.
Homegrown Solutions In Indonesia
Utami grew up in Bogor, Indonesia, and says spent most of her childhood experiencing an education system left over from the Suharto authoritarian era.
"I was not interested in political science or public policy as a teenager, but my interest and passion developed over time, accumulating from my education and experience–I realized the importance of having a democracy that works," she says.
Utami explains that there are various unique challenges for democracy in the Global South.
"For example, in Indonesia, the lack of effort towards transparency and availability of meaningful information remains a fundamental challenge for the government," she says, adding that there is a lot of information, such as the use of billboards in public spaces and viral content on social media, but little focus on the issues.
"This, in turn, affects the quality of voters’ decisions as they may choose well-known figures rather than considering a person with their track record and proposed policies" Utami says, adding that there are continuing concerns about youth involvement in the political process.
"This apathy is currently prevalent among the younger generation in India, where there is a lack of interest among young people in voting in the upcoming elections," she says, "Therefore, looking forward, such challenges exist in the global south and need to be explored to find appropriate solutions."
The Data Gathering Methodology of Bijak Memilih or Vote Wisely from Indonesia.
Women Shaping The Amazon In Colombia
On the other side of the world, a researcher in Colombia is using technology to investigate and highlight the impact that women have had in the Amazon region since the signing of the peace deal with the FARC guerrillas in 2016.
Since then, women-led social, cultural and environmental organisations have increased their presence in Colombia's Amazon region, which in 2019, accounted for 62 percent of the national deforestation total, according to statistics from Colombia’s Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies.
Sociologist Lorena Romero Leal, current president of Fundación Yauda de Estudios Amazónicos; and an anthropology PhD candidate the University of Florida explains that she's been investigating more closely the increase of indigenous and non-indigenous women's organizations in the Colombian Amazon.
"One of the products of this research was a 'geoviewer' to make visible more than 50 indigenous women's organizations in the Colombian Amazon," she says, adding that the map shows the indigenous women's organizations of the Colombian Amazon as well as the women's groups selected as part of the "Women Caregivers of the Amazon" project.
