- 7 weeks ago
As the UN marks 30 years of its World Programme of Action for Youth, are young people truly shaping policy or still being left out? Allyzsa Zahril from UNICEF’s Young Persons Advisory Group and PEACE Foundation’s Aliff Naif Mohd Fizam discuss Malaysia’s progress, gaps and what youth want to see for Budget 2026.
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00:00hello and welcome to it's about youth with me fake one this year marks 30 years since the
00:13United Nations will program of action for youth the first global plan to put youth at the center
00:19of policymaking and now it also comes as the UN turns 80 and help for the first time held its
00:26first-ever General Assembly high-level meeting on youth and with half the world aged under 30 young
00:33people aren't just inheriting the future they are shaping it now so today on the show we'll be
00:38asking how far have we come what still needs to change and what more do you want to see joining
00:45me on the show to speak a little bit more about this is Alyssa Zahril a member with UNICEF's young
00:50persons advisory group as well as Alif Naif Muhammad Fizam CEO of Peace Foundation welcome
00:56both of you thank you for joining me today thank you so much it's a pleasure to have you on the
01:00show now firstly 30 years since the UN has laid out its blueprint for youth engagement I'm curious
01:09from your perspective the both of you in the context of Malaysia where do you see what kind
01:14of tangible progress has been made in recent years and where do you think young people still struggle
01:20to be prioritized Alif shall we start with you the thing that I want to focus on is on education I think
01:27since 1995 when the first time WPAY was a table our literacy rate access to education had increased however
01:38when it comes to deepening equality we do have some shortcomings there I would say most of the youth
01:49now are able to get a basic education especially we do have some we do put a bit a lot more effort when
02:00comes to this I mean previously during the last parliament sitting we can see how the education bills had
02:06been reformed to ensure that even secondary schools are wajib for the students to be part of and I think
02:19yeah we do have some progress since 1995 but there is a lot no for way more to go so we've got primary
02:29school secondary school now it's perhaps early childhood education that needs to be mandated how about you
02:35Alyssa since starting your work in youth advocacy what progress do you think there's been in youth
02:40involvement and youth engagement and what gaps do you think still remain in youth representation
02:45observing the youth observing the fact that I'm in the UNICEF young persons advisory group right so it's a
02:53platforms that give me the opportunities that give my peers the potential to share our views our
02:59perspectives on what do we think about certain thing that had been incorporating or have not been
03:04incorporating about it what I can see from now is like the progress that have been done since like
03:11last 10 years I could see that youth participation is increasing but it's not enough and also I feel
03:18like youth are no longer waiting like we are no longer waiting for the adults to help us we are
03:24actually driving the change ourselves and we can see for example a lot of youth movements in Malaysia and
03:31also globally right so I feel like it's a very good start and although there's still a lot of great
03:38areas that's not covered but I think this this movement and also this improvement is incredibly needed
03:45because we too have the right we to have the voice that that matters and I feel like it's important that
03:54um that the adults also take into priorities what our needs are because at the end of the day we are
04:01the one that experiencing all of this yeah yeah I think you're right absolutely right to say that
04:06because youth are really are at the center of whether it's conflict and equality and education and most
04:11recently I think a lot of topic a lot of talk on climate change yeah um and all of this is really
04:17hitting young people hard what do you see as I suppose the biggest blind spot in how governments are
04:22currently addressing youth needs or what barriers do you think prevent young people from having
04:27their voices heard I think it's firstly the fact that tokenism still exists in terms of incorporating
04:36youth voices maybe like we are on the table but we are not um our voices are not inputted enough for
04:43example and like consultations we are just there for the fact that oh we are the youth we are representing
04:48the youth but taking off a checkbox yeah but then by the end of the day inside the consultations um
04:53documents um the points that we inputted are not even there so it's one fact about tokenism and also
05:00the fact that um this are the area of like marginalized communities like children's from marginalized
05:06communities are not being voiced out enough for example like orang asi children and people from the north
05:13people from inside sabah and sarawak these youth actually experience a lot far a lot more than what
05:18we've seen in the media nowadays so the fact that um youth that is representing the marginalized communities
05:25have not been heard enough so I feel like the most important thing is for us to actually step up our game
05:31in terms of incorporating every children every children's in marginalized communities um children's with disabilities
05:37is also needed because they're often very been side cornered so I feel like yep um those are the barriers that I observe
05:45nowadays yeah definitely important to hit out of that clang valley bubble and to make sure that no one is left
05:51behind in this conversation uh Alif what about you what what do you think what sort of structural barriers um
05:58are stopping young people especially those from marginalized backgrounds um from actively participating and having their voices heard
06:04um first I agree with uh Alisa here when she said that uh the youth are sometimes uh being taken for granted
06:12being just put as tokenism uh I think we do need a new approach when it comes to youth participation
06:19uh that is co-creation for example when it comes to uh planning a certain bills uh drafting a certain bills or
06:25drafting even the national budget the upcoming national budget I think roundtable uh should not just um
06:33be a place where youth voice out the concerns but also be a place where youth can actually draft uh the
06:39budget the bills together uh and I think one of the blind spot that people usually miss is about the
06:47precarity of youth work so youth make up this large group called precariat so it's a portmanteau between
06:56proletariat and also precarious because youth they do have jobs they are employed but sometimes
07:02they are under employed or their jobs are insecure they don't have stability they don't have uh social
07:10security or job even job security so uh yes we can see oh youth got youth are being employed uh in various
07:19sectors but I mean are their job stable enough uh is it secure enough so as I mentioned precariat or precarity is a
07:27new form of uh a new class uh a new form of uh insecurities not just uh or a new form of inequality in fact
07:37because I mean before this most jobs try to lure youth with a lot of benefits even even jobs in government
07:45sectors but these days even jobs in the government sectors are not secured enough uh we see uh contracted
07:52doctors uh for example you know medical sector has always been um a dream uh for for the youth but
08:00these days even becoming a doctor doesn't secure you a good future or even a dignity indignified life
08:08yeah definitely the job market is something that's always brought up on the show or in
08:12conversations among the youth um and it's interesting that you bring up a co-creation because in line with with
08:19the un's high level meeting this year the theme was accelerating progress through intergenerational
08:25collaboration which is exactly what the points that you've brought up um and it's oh I mean both of
08:32you have also mentioned that youth participation should be more than just attending meetings it's
08:37really about integrating those lived experiences and um and expertise into policy outcomes because this
08:43is what's going to affect young people um but with all this talk about how young people are invited
08:50into conversations but aren't actually involved in actual decision making um from your perspective
08:55elisa what does meaningful youth participation look like today perhaps you could also if you'd like
09:02what sort of mechanisms you think should and can enable this better um youth led um of course being
09:09brought in into meetings is a good good start but of course like I said earlier it's not only stop at
09:16that yeah moving beyond yeah we should because um for example I've been on the consultations for
09:22national action plan for business and human rights so I'm involved um as to voice out um problems of and
09:30problems that is not incorporating enough um about on young persons and children's issues in terms of
09:35environment for those um action plans so it's a good start that we are already like like we actually
09:43presented to the stakeholders like what we recommend as young persons we recommend for example we actually
09:51put out like oh um they say like in the action plan that I read that we also should include children
09:58within marginalized communities in terms of environment so that's what we think of that's what I thought of
10:03when it comes to um incorporating youth participations and also another thing I would say here is um
10:11I'm actually behind the scene right now working for the ASEAN ICT forum and that's a very good start
10:17because um this ICT forum is usually like led by the adult right and it's a good it's a really refreshing
10:24perspectives to note that they are incorporating youth voices by actually not having us as only
10:30participants but also as the ones that is planning the session so like um we have the opportunity to
10:37plan who we want to be on board with and like what questions should be asked that based on our
10:43perspective as youth because we want to hear more voices like what do they think about you now it is
10:47also right so that's a good that's a nice start and I feel like a lot of this can be done more often
10:54and it should be more um distinct yeah yeah so more youth-led initiatives rather than including
11:00youths as just participants um how about you Aleph what do you think how do we bridge that gap between
11:06tokenism and real influence um as I mentioned just now co-creation uh can be part of it I think government
11:13needs to also um I mean that uh when it comes to co-creation that's the approach right but when it comes to
11:19mindset the government or whatever agencies whatever firms uh needs to change the mindset that if you
11:26want to do something for the youth you have to do it with them so it's not just doing something for
11:31them for example Alyssa mentioned about marginalized communities people tend to think oh we need to do
11:36something for them why don't you invite them and see because they did this there is their lived reality
11:42right so they can put things into context uh rather than someone who planned from um the eagle's eye so
11:49for example uh Alyssa mentioned uh youth from the north I was I grew up in the north uh and I entered
11:56Lembah Kelang when I was 18 years old so I do miss uh certain opportunities uh that are usually uh
12:04being uh you know give out uh or available at the uh for the youth at Lembah Kelang uh but people tend to think
12:14that oh I mean they are outside of Lembah Kelang we need to do something for them why don't you do
12:18something with them go to the north for example and then plan out something rather than oh here we
12:23have something we did it in Lembah Kelang here you go and do it in in Kedah in police I don't think
12:28that's the right approach uh if you want youth to lead initiatives uh youth to be more uh participative in
12:36whatever initiative there is it needs to be localized and to not assume that things that may work in Lembah Kelang
12:42the Klang Valley can apply to East I think that's the issue of one size fits all people tend to think
12:48oh this this is applicable at this place so it must be applicable at that place a lot of problem arise
12:54uh from that mindset um our solutions to poverty for example we try to have a blanket solution for
13:01everything which is not always the case yeah um to add on right um you say like participating youth from
13:07like the marginalized communities itself right a good example for this is like I've been uh to the
13:12ASEAN youth ASEAN children and youth um climate summit in Langkawi back in the first of September
13:18and um we can clearly see a very good representations from um youth all over Malaysia like I'm representing
13:25the north there's also people representing Sabah and Sarawak and also the people that is representing and
13:30also drafting the main points for the declarations that is representing Malaysia is also from the Sabah
13:37so I feel like it's a very good start um in terms of this and we can also always step up this game
13:43um to move forward yep I think that that program in Langkawi really shows that it is possible for us
13:49to be able to engage youth throughout the entire country every state for them to have one united voice
13:55together um but I'm curious though because we see clearly youth are leading the advocacy on climate
14:02democracy and human rights but burnout and disillusionment is also something that's very real
14:08especially when you are faced with so much bad news and perhaps um this certain mindset that youth voices
14:16may not still matter how do you think we can keep young people engaged for the long run uh Alyssa um I
14:23think firstly first and foremost is to always create a safe space for us because we don't want we do not
14:32want to invite any negative feelings in when we're doing the things that we're passionate of because
14:37it's a good thing that there's a lot of youth that is passionate enough to start a movement right but
14:42then um it's always going to be um accompanied by negative talks by someone that thinks that oh we
14:50are not worth it we we cannot do this because we're young we need to be taken seriously yes because we
14:57experience the list experiences and the fact that the the you the adults that have a childhood right
15:04they grew up in a different time settings than us so they may not have the headphones like the modern
15:10headphones now but we do so how do we incorporate that experiences um from the eye from the eyes of
15:16children's of us into the room and i feel like what the number one thing is to always like um not put negative
15:25feelings out there and also to always um have such a structured like mindset that also you like youth
15:33is not just mere participants like we are not just someone who sits and like be quiet just to be there
15:39like youth are there to like co-create to draft oh if you write down we recommend we also want to write
15:45down we recommend yeah yeah definitely because uh approaches that perhaps were good and applied to time
15:52decades ago may not be relevant today because the world is changing so rapidly um alif how about
15:58you um burns out among uh youth are real a real problem um i think it uh one thing we need to
16:10factor in is how a lot of systemic barriers are being put forth uh when you try to bring about changes so for
16:18example uh based on my experience when i was uh when i was a student uh before uh we try to engage with
16:28the area of intellectual activism we try to bring uh critical discourses uh but of course uh universities
16:36or management sometimes see this as this is against the norm so they put up systemic i mean they don't they
16:43might not say don't do this but they might put up systemic barriers for example uh there are issues
16:50with uh booking venue for example or even bringing gas or this gas are not approved so these are systemic
16:57barriers i mean there is a small example that i just uh uh brought up but there are a lot of other
17:03systemic barriers for example digital divide uh among the youth a lot of activism activism now must incorporate
17:12um social media so i mean it is very different from the activism of maybe uh pre-2015 yeah a lot of activism
17:23now must revolve around uh whether you are able to do videos on tiktok or able to write out uh on uh twitter
17:31on x but digital divide among the youth do uh put some gaps when it comes to bring the youth together so those who
17:42usually are privileged enough uh to be digitally literate they can perform better when it comes to
17:50activism but they cannot uh afford to uh bringing their peers uh from the marginalized communities who are
17:59usually uh have a problem with uh digital literacy and everything so their effort are sometimes becoming
18:05eco chambers because they it's not that they cannot put their words uh out it's cannot they cannot bring the
18:11support uh with them so there is a problem with uh youth activism uh sorry the problem with uh burnouts
18:19in youth activism sometimes political fatigness can also be an issue uh people are tired of seeing
18:25politics as a mere sensational news people wanted to see politics as oh we do uh policies we bring about
18:35changes uh here's our um economic issues how can you but people love to see i mean of course we all
18:43love some good tea some good gossip but when it comes to politics we need to take it seriously because
18:49if it's just political gossip all around as as the what we take as political news political factiveness
18:55can arise from that yep and i think what you're saying i mean lisa is nodding but also this is something
19:00we're seeing across the globe right with gen z protests yes in nepal uprisings in france people are
19:06tired they want to see changes in politics in the government that is leading their country um in
19:13malaysia though has lowered the youth age limit to 30 uh alif i'm curious do you think this would help
19:20focus a little bit more on policy on younger voices or how do you think this change might impact youth
19:26engagement and representation uh of course uh there are pros and cons uh when it comes to lowering
19:32youth uh age i'm pro towards it uh because i see that it uh sharpen our focus to you know a very
19:42specific group of course the older youth might have some uh say about it we do see responses from youth
19:48council and everything which are valid uh but i think we need to again there are again there are no uh
19:55one size fits all solution so for the younger youth and the older youth both are youth in youth
20:01category but they do need different approaches both are both might come from a different generation so
20:07when it comes to uh 30 and below uh they might have certain needs that the 30 and above youth uh might not even
20:16consider as a as a problem or as a need so it's not that we are excluding more people it's like it's
20:22that we are including more people in a very specific uh group so we can have a more specific
20:27solution more specific focus but for those who are deemed excluded in some sense um we can have a different
20:36kind of uh initiative it's not that we are we leave them behind no it's just that we are putting them
20:42in an area that we know their needs their the initiative that they can use is a bit more
20:47different than the younger youth so not leaving behind any of that co-creation and intergenerational
20:53collaboration uh but just focusing a little bit more on a specific age group um we've had a lot
20:58of talk now about the progress and the changes we want to see budget 2026 is coming up and will be
21:04tabled in parliament soon what are some items for the both of you what are some items that you wish to see
21:11being brought up in budget 2026 um especially for for young people alissa should we start with you
21:16yes um firstly i would say funding because youth movements we know that there's a lot of youth
21:24movements right but then youth have great ideas but our we're always stuck in the funding um stage
21:31like we cannot go far and beyond because there's some consequences that leads to us like not having
21:36enough money not having enough funding to for example make a movement because making a movement
21:42also involves um some kind of monetary contributions right so i feel like um this is very this is really
21:51needed when it comes to like you said you want youth to participate then can you help fund us too because
21:58we're because like similar to the adults right um we also need like money to make them make something to
22:05move so i would say like and also making sure that um focus the funding to also like climate issues
22:13like climate adaptation issue because this has also been like a very increasing problem because we can
22:20see that uh in terms of financing the uh for like the climate regions right this uh it's not it's not
22:28enough it's often is underdeveloped so i feel like this is the number one thing that we should think of about
22:35and also i'd say like focus on making sure that skills are integrated in all of the youth and
22:43making sure that you are coming in to us um vice versa we go to you you go to us in terms of
22:50incorporating some knowledge that is needed um when we're growing up right because i feel like going
22:57into um for example going into the orang asli kampung to teach them is is is needed also so i feel like
23:05a movement that um that can fund us and also that incorporates us in all of the problems and
23:12consequences at the end of the day we are all just working together to try and create a just and
23:16sustainable future for the country exactly alif uh what's on your budget 2026 wishlist yeah i agree on uh i
23:22agree with alisa on uh funding it creates opportunities uh but to some extent uh when it comes to
23:28opportunities not people not many people can access uh these opportunities so it's a problem of
23:33capabilities uh do we enhance the capability uh in a very amartya sense uh sense uh that how do these
23:43youth capable enough to utilize those opportunities so for example we can provide funding uh a lot of
23:51initiatives can be done uh with those fundings but are you capable enough for example i mean uh we might
23:58exclude certain people if their their capabilities are not up to par to receive this uh opportunities so i
24:07wanted to see how uh budget 2026 can actually uh resolve the issue of uh systemic barriers uh one thing uh maybe
24:17one of two things that i want to focus on is on uh job market for example we mentioned about
24:21precariat just now so opportunities are all around especially when when we say about job market in
24:28lembah kelang it is all around but uh there might be uh issues when it comes to these uh job security social
24:36security of this job that do the youth wanted to uh you know is it a dignified uh wish is it a dignified life uh to
24:46take up this job so that's uh one issue and there's different priorities now like work life
24:50balance mental health uh and another thing that uh i think budget 2026 needs to focus on is on uh
24:59education so there is an issue of legacy quota or alumni quota when it comes to mrsm osbp this
25:08school should be the ladder for people to you know go upward in social mobility a lot of people from
25:15previous generation got up from poverty because of these opportunities uh uh being laid out for them
25:21however these days there are issues with um uh legacy admission or alumni quota that hinders youth from
25:32from underprivileged background to move uh socially upward um i mean there are opportunities right but
25:40but are they capable enough to take that so the the problem with education we need to also fund the
25:47underfunded school so because uh people from um for example uh people who grew up in a ppr in lembah kelang
25:57and people who grew up in in a big mansion somewhere in in damansara they might go to uh the same
26:05school but when it comes to uh when it comes to uh when it comes to you know uh certain capabilities
26:11some might have a privilege uh for tuition extradition privilege for books privilege for a
26:18conducive environment uh to study which still which enhance their capabilities which can make them
26:24go to a better school when when it comes to secondary schools um so government should uh focus on how to
26:32resolve the systemic barriers again as i mentioned in the earlier part we have widening uh our access but
26:40why do our inequalities are getting deeper these days uh because we don't we provide opportunities all
26:47around but we don't empower the students and for the youth enough for them to grab these opportunities
26:53and then move uh you know to a better uh place uh in their life also all about prioritizing the
27:00well-being of future generations right thank you so much to both of you for sharing your insights
27:06today and your candid views on the show i've been speaking to elisa zahril from unicef's young persons
27:11advisory group as well as alif naif muhammad nizam from uh the peace foundation this has been it's about
27:18youth with me fae kwan thank you for watching and good night
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