5.8 Raising political awareness among young people
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Address
Tempus Kozalapitvany / Tempus Public Foundation
Kethly Anna Square 1
HU-1438 Budapest 70, Pf 508
Tel: +36 1 237 1300
E-Mail:
Website
On this page
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Information providers / counselling structures
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Youth-targeted information campaigns about democratic rights and democratic values
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Promoting the intercultural dialogue among young people
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Promoting transparent and youth-tailored public communication
Information providers / counselling structures
The information on democratic rights and values is disseminated through the National Core Curriculum (Nemzeti Alaptanterv, NAT) and different programmes organised by NGOs.
In Hungary, active citizenship education and social responsibility education are present in schools at several points. NAT requires that the content of civic education be taught in several subjects (for example, history and ethics). From 2023, social and civic competence teaching is a separate subject (entitled civic knowledge) in grades 8 and 12 (for more information, see 5.7).
Youth-targeted information campaigns about democratic rights and democratic values
There is no information about large-scale nationwide campaigns for young people to inform them about democratic rights and values or about campaigns to raise awareness about European values.
National Youth Parliament
In 2025, the relevant county departments of the Educational Authority held 21 county youth parliaments (vármegyei diákparlament). 730 students participated in the county parliaments who had the right to vote. In these sessions, the National Youth Parliament (Országos Diákparlament) delegates reported on their annual work and discussed the questions to be delegated to the National Youth Parliament.
United Nations Youth Delegate
In Hungary, 15–26-year-old young people can participate in the United Nations (UN) Youth Delegate programme. The programme aims to give the young generation the opportunity to represent and assert their interests in international decision-making. The delegate also helps to bring the values of the UN and the Sustainable Development Goals closer to young people. Young people selected for the programme can represent their own country in the most important forums and consultations of the UN as members of the official delegations, as youth diplomats.
Hungary joined the program in 2016 with the approval of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Külgazdasági és Külügyminisztérium). The youth delegate develops its own position based on discussions with young people nationwide. The last Youth Delegate (Ifjúsági Küldött) is in office from January 2026. (For more information about the UN youth delegates, see 9.3 Exchanges between young people and policy-makers on global issues.)
Public Life Mentor Programme
The National Youth Council (Nemzeti Ifjúsági Tanács, NIT) launched a programme in 2020, the Public Life Mentor Programme ('Közéleti Mentorprogram'), targeting young people who are interested in public life and social issues. They organised public life training where youth received skills development, participated in interactive roundtable discussions, and worked on projects to solve a youth-related problem. The aim of the programme was to help young people to engage, to practice critical thinking and to become responsible citizens who actively shape their environment. They held several sessions in recent years and more than 100 young people participated in the programme. The programme was ended in 2024. There is no information on the budget and financing of the programme.
Parliamentary Youth Day
The 'You have a say!' Parliamentary Youth Day ('Van beleszólásod! Parlamenti Ifjúsági Nap 2025') aims to give young people the opportunity to engage with the basic institution of democracy and the legislature. They can receive information on the House of Parliament and learn to speak on decisions about it, and actively participate in the resolution of community affairs in the future.
During the day, participants attend the high school in grades 11-12. (around 300 people) have the opportunity to speak to a member of the national and EU Parliaments, participate in an interactive debate and learn more about the Erasmus+ Youth Pillar (Erasmus+ ifjúsági terület).
The debate is about questions prepared by the young people themselves and the debate is based on issues that concern them. The participation of the groups - together with their preparation and creative report - is assessed by a professional jury.
The program is organised by the Tempus Public Foundation, the Erasmus+ Programme (Erasmus+ Program), the European Solidarity Corps (Európai Szolidaritási Testület), and the Office of the National Assembly on behalf of the government.
Democracy Game and Parliamentary Tutorial
A youth programme of the Museum of the Hungarian Parliament is the Democracy Game ('Demokráciajáték'). This is a one-day event where students take on the role of MPs allowing them to experience the work of Parliament first hand. As part of the programme, young people can attend a committee meeting, a plenary session and a parliamentary group meeting. Another programme with a similar aim is the Parliamentary Tutorial ('Parlamenti különóra'), but with some additional cultural elements like visiting the Library of the National Assembly or attending the parade of the Parliamentary Guard.
The aim of these programmes is to familiarise young people with the work of MPs by imitating the legislative work of Parliament. The long-term goal is to awaken students' interest in public life. The initiative aims to get young people to participate in opinion-forming and discussion on issues that concern them, to develop their communication and argumentation skills, and to work in a team.
The Democracy Game is organised once a month during the school year, with four groups of 20 high school students participating at the same time (a total of 960 young people per year). The programme is funded by the government. The Parliamentary Tutorial is held every two weeks during the school year with the participation of four high school classes at the same time (about 1 000–1 250 young people per year). The programmes are funded by the government.
'Like-a-Parliament'
The 'Like-a-Parliament' ('Mint-a-Parliament') programme is similar to the Democracy game, but the target group is university students. The event is a two-day programme series consisting of a debate and a session. The representatives (students) form fictitious parliamentary groups in a simulation game. They submit draft bills that can later be debated in a parliamentary session. The last session took place in 2025 and more than 100 students participated. The programme is funded by the government.
Promoting the intercultural dialogue among young people
The promotion of dialogue among young people is mainly supported by individual, non-governmental and local initiatives, but not at the national level. We are not aware of any such national initiative at present.
Promoting transparent and youth-tailored public communication
In Hungary, there are no programmes on this topic accessible to a wide range of young people and funded by the Hungarian state. This issue is not one of the main objectives or rhetorical lines of the Hungarian government.
There is no data on training for politicians and decision-makers on the topic of youth-friendly communication. There are several bachelor's degree programmes for those interested in working in youth work. However, these are open to everyone (who meets the admission requirements), including decision-makers.