Finalist
Youth Engagement
Civil Participation
Children and Youth
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Democracy in Action: Empowering a Generation with Politize!
The Problem
Brazil is the fourth-largest democracy in the world, with over three uninterrupted decades of democratic rule. However, concerning data reports that 66% of Brazilians are not satisfied with democracy and 30% believe it makes no difference whether they live in a democracy or not.
There is also evidence that democracy has not been able to address the needs of the current generation. Brazilian youth carry very specific challenges: 70% have had some type of negative impact on their education during the pandemic, 70% reported a worsening of their emotional state, and 38% are uncertain about the success of their careers. But there are also indications that young people are becoming increasingly involved and eager to participate in the democratic process. The record number of young people voting for the first time in 2022 reinforces the need to channel this energy into healthy learning and political participation.
The Approach
Politize! was founded in 2015 with the mission of providing civic education to anyone, anywhere in Brazil and developing a generation of conscious citizens committed to democracy. Politize! operates in three axes:
Content: Politize! reaches over 70% of Brazilians online, delivering politics in an accessible format and promoting positive examples and dialogue among diverse perspectives. Politize! fights against misinformation as a trusted, impartial channel that simplifies political situations for the public to learn and make informed decisions.
Schools: The program integrates civic education into school curricula and provides tools that allow students to learn and cultivate a lifelong interest in civic life. It delivers a 900 class-hours track to public schools and trains teachers to teach politics in a pluralistic manner.
Leadership: This axis aims to build a network of young people with different political perspectives who, despite their differences, collaboratively devise strategies to strengthen political culture and participation. Civic leaders are classified into different groups, understanding that all of them have immense potential to influence public policies.
Campaigns: aligning its design and network engagement expertise, Politize! developed four campaigns to communicate about citizenship activities and increased awareness on the importance of democracy, politics, and elections in Brazilian media.
The Impact
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2,941 young people have been trained in the network
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9,781 political education workshops have been held in 20 Brazilian states plus the Federal District, reaching 179.754 people
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663 public policy proposals have been created by the network, which are taken forward to improve the daily lives of Brazilian citizens
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97 million users are active on the online portal
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172 million pageviews on the website
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2,350 individuals have completed open online courses
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Worked with young volunteers to establish 80 Politize! local hubs with the mission of promoting civic leadership development in their communities
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14.176 teachers and 158,121 students have used the citizenship education teaching materials
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61 million people reached through campaigns.
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More than 600.000 of followers on social media
The Future
In the short term, Politize! – Civic Education Institute will continue to expand its work by producing content, running awareness campaigns, and providing training for young leaders, teachers, and students. In the medium term, it aims to solidify the internationalization process that began in 2024 by launching a Spanish-language content production operation. In the long term, it hopes to become a financial supporter for the ecosystem, nurturing an endowment that can support its operations and those of other organizations in the field.