In Tunisia, 7 million voters are called to the polls Sunday, September 15. In this country, young people represent nearly 25% of the population but are often forgotten in political programs. While some are disenchanted, particularly because of the very high unemployment rate they experience, many engage in community life and volunteering to participate in public life.
In Kabaria, a popular district of Tunis, culture helps to educate young people about politics. France 24 met members of a theater company performing in the only leisure area in the neighborhood: an abandoned site next to a tram station.
"In our room we try to shock a little, to shake people so that everyone understands that we are there as young people, that we have a role to play, including in public life", explains one actresses of the team, who has traveled the whole country for ten days.
The play they give deals with the revolution, the freedom of expression or the complex relationship between police and citizens, themes dear to the youth.
In Tunisia, it is poorly represented in politics. Yet it is one of the main issues of this election: there are 70% of young people among the new registered voters this year.
"Remobilize young people"
With some friends, Mohamed Guedira founded a website called "Chnowa Barnamejek" ("What's your program?") To make politics more accessible. These young people filmed interviews with the candidates and put them online. They managed to attract more than 13,000 Facebook subscribers in a few days.
"The idea was to remobilize young people and push them to vote on concrete things, (...) proposals, a vision of the future and objective measures," says Mohamed Guedira.
These young Tunisians do not wait until politicians come to them, they do the opposite way, even if the task is often difficult ... Of the 26 candidates, only 14 accepted interviews with this group of students.