Using the Power of AI to Boost Youth Political Participation in Guatemala
The “Guatemala Joven Conversa” initiative brought together hundreds of young people from around the country to discuss the political issues and challenges they face in their daily lives. DPPA, with funding from its Multi-Year Appeal, helped participants overcome barriers to connectivity.
This autumn, from September to November, with support from DPPA’s Innovation Cell, over 300 young Guatemalans joined a series of AI-powered digital dialogues on civic engagement and political participation. To take part, all they needed was internet access and a desire to share with others their views on critical national issues, from the fight against corruption to the need for electoral reform.
The dialogues were facilitated as part of the Guatemala Joven Conversa initiative, a collaborative project led by the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO) and Fundación Esquipulas, a civil society organization that focuses on peace, democracy, and social and economic development in the Central American and Caribbean region. The initiative aimed to strengthen youth political participation in Guatemala by providing a platform for young leaders to discuss their visions for the country’s future.
The project’s three digital dialogues each focused on distinct topics: electoral law reform, youth participation in development, and corruption. The hundreds of young people that participated came from 22 departments, and included Indigenous communities; 64 percent of them identified as women.
“DPPA embraces innovative technologies like AI to amplify marginalized voices,” said Diego Antoni, Peace and Development Advisor in Guatemala. “The Guatemala Joven Conversa initiative highlights how AI-enabled dialogues can empower youth and marginalized communities to shape their country’s future and drive transparency and accountability.”
Guatemala’s youth: overcoming barriers for participation
Young people are a significant demographic in Guatemala, where they have historically championed peace and human rights through social engagement. Formal spaces to inform decision-making involving youth remain limited, especially for young women and Indigenous peoples.
Fundación Esquipulas and the Joint UN Development Programme (UNDP)-DPPA Programme-supported Peace and Development Advisor in the UN Office of the Resident Coordinator in Guatemala launched the Guatemala Joven Conversa initiative to amplify young leaders’ voice on issues such as electoral reform, anti-corruption, and local governance and development. With the aim of engaging a broad and diverse youth audience, the team turned to AI-powered digital dialogues to create a wide platform for engagement.
Using AI to amplify young leaders’ participation
With support from DPPA’s Innovation Cell, the Guatemala Joven Conversa initiative launched three digital dialogues, each involving over 300 participants. This technology enabled real-time, anonymous exchanges among young people ages 18 to 30 from all 22 departments of Guatemala. Participants needed only access to a phone or computer connected to the internet, making the dialogues simultaneously available nationwide. By allowing participants to vote on each other’s input, it ensured the conversation stayed focused on key issues, offering a more engaging and inclusive approach than traditional methods.
“The digital dialogues provided a different dynamic than what we are used to,” said Laura Regina Lopez, youth leader from the International Youth Leaders Network REDJINOL. “These experiences normally take place in platforms such as Zoom or Meet, where people often are inhibited or feel embarrassed to voice their opinions, afraid of what others might say. In this type of dialogue, the dynamic was different, which allowed people to freely express themselves.”
Approximately 60 per cent of the participants were women, and 40 per cent self-identified as Indigenous — a critical representation in a country where over 43 per cent of the population identifies as Indigenous. To encourage diverse participation, DPPA, with funding from its Multi-Year Appeal, paid for mobile data coverage for roughly 200 participants in each dialogue to overcome connectivity barriers, especially in rural communities. Additionally, DPPA funded three in-person workshops to review the findings of the digital dialogues with 25 youth leaders, enabling a deeper analysis of the topics discussed.
Advancing youth perspectives for peace, development and human rights
Speaking online, youth leaders often noted the need to address Guatemala’s pressing challenges, from strengthening democracy and advancing sustainable development to combating corruption. Whether through voting, engaging in local governance, or participating in social movements, youth are eager to contribute. However, they shared significant barriers for participation, including discrimination and limited access to information.
Several of the youth leaders highlighted the corrosive impact of corruption on institutional trust and resource allocation, which are essential for addressing inequality. Worryingly, some 70 per cent expressed fear of criminalization and political persecution for speaking out against corruption, including fear of facing prosecutorial retaliation, underscoring the ongoing risks of advocating for transparency and justice in Guatemala.
Ixmucane Caal, a youth leader from the Political Association of Mayan Women Mo’Loj, said that “As young people we can make corruption visible, it is important that the population knows what is happening, so that we can take action and protest.” She went on to stress that “Raising our voices […] is the best way to make rights violations and acts of corruption visible.”
Throughout the dialogues, youth expressed their ambitions to confront systemic challenges and to promote greater inclusivity and transparent governance. With support from the Guatemala Joven Conversa team, key government counterparts, such as the National Youth Council, the National Anti-Corruption Commission, the Decentralization Presidential Secretariat, and the Electoral Tribunal were invited to observe the dialogues. The results of the process will be formally presented to them, in a step toward ensuring that youth voices play a central role in shaping Guatemala’s future.
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