By Ms. Carolina del Angel Cruz

Electoral Counselor of the Electoral Institute of Mexico City

This article is based on the concept of civic education as an essential Human Right to build citizenship and to exercise the individual or collective right that every person has to influence public decisions and deliberate with authorities in an effective, broad, equitable, democratic and accessible manner, as mandated by Article 3 of the Citizen Participation Law of Mexico City.

The text focuses on what is established in Article 21 of the Ibero-American Convention on the Rights of Young People, which grants this age group the right to political participation, and provides that the States Parties undertake to promote and strengthen social processes that generate forms and guarantees that make effective the participation of youth from all sectors of society, in addition to promoting that government and legislative institutions encourage their participation in the formulation of policies and laws relating to youth.

This international treaty is also relevant because it is the only one that specifically focuses on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of young people. In its article 22, section 5, the Convention states that the States Parties recognize that education is a lifelong learning process, which includes elements from school, non-school and informal learning systems, which contribute to the continuous and comprehensive development of young people.

It is worth saying that two of the key stages in the life course of all human beings are adolescence and youth, as these are where a series of decisions are made that significantly affect and mark life situations, future directions and the possibilities of prosperity and social integration of all people, so civic education must undoubtedly be part of this learning process.

In the case of Mexico City, the recognition and respect for the human rights of children, adolescents and young people has made significant progress. The Political Constitution of Mexico City (Local Constitution) in its articles 8, paragraph B, numeral 5; 11, numeral 7, sections D and E and, 24 numeral 3 respectively, indicate that:

• The local education system must promote environmental education, respect for human rights and civic and ethical training;
• Recognizes girls, boys, adolescents and young people as part of priority care groups, and
• As part of their civic education, it recognises their right to participate in electoral observation and in public decision-making in the family, school, social, community or any other sphere in which they develop, affect them or are of interest to them.

Regarding the authority responsible for exercising functions in the area of civic education, article 41, section V, paragraph C, numeral 2 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, provides that Local Public Organizations (OPL) are empowered to carry out this task.

Since its creation in 1999, in compliance with the constitutional mandate, the Electoral Institute of Mexico City (IECM) has contributed to the consolidation of a robust civic culture among those who live in this city, with special emphasis on civic education; the construction of citizenship; the promotion of citizen participation and respect for the law, as well as human rights to favor the reconstruction of the social fabric. However, the construction of citizenship is a complex task that requires coordinated work, since no public institution can, on its own, achieve the objective of having a fully consolidated active citizenship, which is why the joint participation of the Mexican State is required.

Thus, the authorities and citizens are obliged to govern our conduct based on the guiding principles established in Article 5 of the Citizen Participation Law of Mexico City (LPCCDMX), namely: Co-responsibility; equity; inclusion; freedom; non-discrimination; solidarity; transparency and accountability; democratic deliberation; tolerance; respect; legality; interculturality and accessibility.

In this regard, Article 187 establishes that girls, boys, adolescents and young people have the right to participate in public decision-making that affects them or is of interest to them, such as the Participatory Budget Consultation. It is noteworthy that, in this area, in 2022 the Electoral Tribunal of Mexico City issued Judgment TECMX-JEL089/2022 with which it linked the IECM to develop specific formats and guides that facilitate the participation of these age groups in the Participatory Budget Consultations.

On the other hand, it is important to say that children and adolescents do not participate in the consultative session nor are they candidates to join COPACO, but they do have the possibility of registering projects to improve the public spaces of their colonies, neighborhoods or towns.

For the Participatory Budget Consultation for 2023 and 2024, the IECM, in compliance with the aforementioned Ruling, prepared formats for the request for registration and opinion of projects with texts in accessible language and issued the Call for said citizen process in the same way.

In terms of dissemination, the IECM, through the Civic Toy Library, provided information on the Participatory Budget Consultation 2023 and 2024 to 760 people who attended the Second Meeting of the Boards of Directors of Societies of Students of the Technical Secondary Schools of Mexico City, among other actions with which the Electoral Institute has strengthened the construction of citizenship among adolescents and youth, which has been reflected in its intervention in citizen participation processes.

As an example for the case at hand, due to space limitations, only the results obtained from the participation of young people in the Participatory Budget Consultation, carried out in fiscal years 2022, 2023 and 2024, are presented below. Regarding the activities carried out in the field of civic education and their results, they should be the subject of another article.

Finally, it is important to say that access to and use of information media and technologies, social networks and communication, have facilitated the participation of young people in issues that interest them. However, institutional efforts must continue to identify the type of public policies that young people need to strengthen their relationship with the institutions of power and increase their trust and participation.