By Tanyss Knowles
Proscovia Oromait, an ambitious 19 year old, has just won a seat in Uganda’s parliament making her the youngest MP in Africa. After her father’s death this summer she campaigned to fill his parliamentary seat and beat out many older candidates. Her father, who was a successful member of parliament, had often encouraged her to become a politician. However Proscovia says, “I went into politics because I saw the corruption in Uganda and the way politicians behaveâ€.
 Proscovia will be attending Uganda Christian University this fall while taking up her duties as a member of the Ugandan parliament. Proscovia is one of the several youth around the world who have won spots in parliaments. There are a handful of dynamic under-25 year-old lawmakers who have taken power in recent years. In Australia, Wyatt Roy was elected at 20 years old in 2010. In 2011, New Zealand elected Jami-Lee Ross, who was 25 at the time. Simon Harris, age 23, was sworn into Ireland’s parliament in 2009.
 What about here in Canada? Our parliament has several youthful MPs. In 2011 the surge in NDP support in Quebec landed several university students seats during the federal election. The youngest among them were: Mylène Freeman (23), Matthew Dubé (24), Laurin Liu (21), Pierre-Luc Dusseault (21), and Charmaine Borg (21). These young politicians were sworn in over a year ago and have become active members of parliament. For example: Laurin Liu represented Canadian youth at the Durban Climate Change Conference last year and was appointed the Official Opposition deputy critic for Science and Technology in April 2012. It’s great to see youth taking on positions of responsibility on parliament hill.
 Watch this clip about Charmaine Borg:
 It’s not only at the national level where youth are taking positions of power. In the UK, 18 year old, Tom Bletsoe took a town council seat in St. Ives, Cambridgeshire after a local election in 2011. If this has inspired you to run for city council in Whitehorse, you better act quick: nominations close today (September 27th)!
 (However, there are plenty of ways for youth to get involved in local politics without running for a seat on council. You can join BYTE’s Whitehorse Youth Want... campaign on facebook, write open letters to the candidates, or attend public council meetings.)
 Regardless of whether you plan to run in a local election, become the first under-25 prime-minister of Canada, or represent youth at a international conference, I hope that these stories show you that youth are getting their voices heard around the world. Youth are engaging in politics and publicizing their own voices and issues. This is extremely important in a country like Uganda, where 45% of the population is under the age of 25. Proscovia spoke directly to this issue when she said, “the politics of Uganda is not only for the old. It is also for the youth of today and tomorrowâ€.
Congratulations to Proscovia and all the other young politicians out there. Keep voicing youth issues!