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Twenty years ago,

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my family introduced a system[br]called "Friday Democracy Meetings."

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Every Friday at 7pm, my family[br]came together for an official meeting

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to discuss the current family affairs.

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These meetings were facilitated[br]by one of my parents,

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and we even had a notetaker.

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These meetings had two rules.

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First, you are allowed[br]to speak open and freely.

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Us kids were allowed[br]to criticize our parents

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without that being considered[br]disrespectful or rude.

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Second rule was the Chatham House rule,

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meaning whatever is said in the meeting[br]stays in the meeting.

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(Laughter)

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The topics which were discussed[br]in these meetings

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varied from one week to another.

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One week, we'd talk about[br]what food we wanted to eat,

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what time us kids should go to bed

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and how to improve things as a family,

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while another meeting discussed[br]pretty much events that happened at school

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and how to solve[br]disputes between siblings,

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by which I mean real fights.

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At the end of each meeting,[br]we'd reach decisions and agreements

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that would last at least[br]until the next meeting.

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So you could say[br]I was raised as a politician.

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By the age of six or seven,[br]I mastered politics.

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I was negotiating, compromising,

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building alliances[br]with other political actors.

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(Laughter)

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And I even once tried to jeopardize[br]the political process.

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(Laughter)

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These meetings sound very peaceful,[br]civil and democratic, right?

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But that was not always the case.

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Because of this open, free space[br]to talk, discuss and criticize,

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things sometimes got really heated.

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One meeting went really bad for me.

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I was about 10 years old at that time,

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and I'd done something[br]really horrible at school,

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which I'm not going to share today --

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(Laughter)

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but my brother decided[br]to bring it up in the meeting.

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I could not defend myself,

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so I decided to withdraw from the meeting[br]and boycott the whole system.

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I literally wrote an official letter[br]and handed it to my dad,

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announcing that I am boycotting.

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(Laughter)

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I thought that if I stopped[br]attending these meetings anymore,

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the system would collapse,

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(Laughter)

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but my family continued with the meetings,

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and they often[br]made decisions that I disliked.

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But I could not challenge these decisions,

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because I was not attending the meetings,

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and thus had no right to go against it.

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Ironically, when I turned[br]about 13 years old,

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I ended up attending[br]one of these meetings again,

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after I boycotted them for a long time.

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Because there was an issue[br]that was affecting me only,

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and no other family member[br]was bringing it up.

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The problem was that after each dinner,

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I was always the only one[br]who was asked to wash the dishes,

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while my brothers didn't have to do[br]anything about it.

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I felt this was unjust,[br]unfair and discriminatory,

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so I wanted to discuss it in the meeting.

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As you know, the idea that it's a woman[br]or a girl's role to do household work

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is a rule that has been carried out[br]by many societies for so long,

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so in order for a 13-year-old me[br]to challenge it, I needed a platform.

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In the meeting, my brothers argued

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that none of the other boys we knew[br]were washing the dishes,

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so why should our family be any different?

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But my parents agreed with me and decided[br]that my brothers should assist me.

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However, they could not force them,[br]so the problem continued.

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Seeing no solution to my problem,[br]I decided to attend another meeting

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and propose a new system[br]that would be fair to everyone.

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So I suggested instead of one person

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washing all the dishes[br]used by all the family members,

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each family member[br]should wash their own dishes.

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And as a gesture of good faith,

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I said I'd wash the pots as well.

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This way, my brothers[br]could no longer argue

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that it wasn't within their responsibility

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as boys or men to wash the dishes[br]and clean after the family,

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because the system I proposed[br]was about every member of the family

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cleaning after themselves[br]and taking care of themselves.

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Everyone agreed to my proposal,

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and for years, that was[br]our washing-the-dishes system.

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What I just shared with you[br]is a family story,

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but it's pure politics.

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Every part of politics[br]includes decision-making,

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and ideally, the process[br]of decision-making

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should include people[br]from different backgrounds,

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interests, opinions, gender,

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beliefs, race, ethnicity, age, and so on.

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And they should all have[br]an equal opportunity to contribute

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to the decision-making process[br]and influence the decisions

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that will affect their lives[br]directly or indirectly.

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As such, I find it difficult to understand[br]when I hear young people saying,

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"I'm too young to engage in politics[br]or to even hold a political opinion."

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Similarly, when I hear some women saying,

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"Politics is a dirty world[br]I don't want to engage with,"

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I'm worried that the idea of politics[br]and political engagement

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has become so polarized[br]in many parts of the world

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that ordinary people feel, in order[br]for them to participate in politics,

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they need to be outspoken activists,

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and that is not true.

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I want to ask these young people,[br]women and ordinary people in general:

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Can you really afford not to be interested[br]or not to participate in politics?

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Politics is not only activism.

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It's awareness,

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it's keeping ourselves informed,[br]it's caring for the facts.

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When it's possible, it's casting a vote.

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Politics is the tool[br]through which we structure ourselves

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as groups and societies.

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Politics governs every aspect of life,

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and by not participating in it,

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you're literally allowing other people[br]to decide on what you can eat, where,

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if you can have access to health care,

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free education,

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how much tax you pay,

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when you can retire,

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what is your pension.

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Other people are also deciding[br]on whether your race and ethnicity

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is enough to consider you a criminal,

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or if your religion and nationality[br]is enough to put you on a terrorist list.

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And if you still think you are a strong,[br]independent human being

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unaffected by politics,

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then think twice.

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I am speaking to you[br]as a young woman from Libya,

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a country that is[br]in the middle of a civil war.

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After more than 40 years[br]of authoritarian rule,

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it's not a place[br]where political engagement

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by women and young people[br]is possible, nor encouraged.

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Almost all political dialogues[br]that took place in the past few years,

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even those gathered by foreign powers,

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has been with only[br]middle-aged men in the room.

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But in places with a broken[br]political system like Libya,

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or in seemingly functioning places,[br]including international organizations,

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the systems we have nowadays[br]for political decision-making

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are not from the people for the people,

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but they have been established[br]by the few for the few.

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And these few have been historically[br]almost exclusively men,

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and they've produced laws, policies,

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mechanisms for political participation[br]that are based on the opinions,

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beliefs, worldviews, dreams,

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aspirations of this one group of people,

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while everyone else was kept out.

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After all, we've all heard[br]some version of this sentence:

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"What does a woman,[br]let alone a young person, who is brown,

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understand about politics?"

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When you're young --

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and in many parts of the world, a woman --

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you often hear experienced politicians[br]say, "But you lack political experience."

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And when I hear that,

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I wonder what sort of experience[br]are they referring to?

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The experience of corrupted[br]political systems?

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Or of waging wars?

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Or are they referring to the experience

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of putting the interests[br]of economic profits

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before those of the environment?

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Because if this is political experience,

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then yes --

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(Applause)

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we, as women and young people,[br]have no political experience at all.

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Now, politicians might not be[br]the only ones to blame,

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because ordinary people,[br]and many young people as well,

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don't care about politics.

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And even those who care[br]don't know how to participate.

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This must change, and here is my proposal.

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We need to teach people at an early age

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about decision-making[br]and how to be part of it.

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Every family is its own[br]mini political system

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that is usually not democratic,

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because parents make decisions[br]that affect all members of the family,

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while the kids have very little to say.

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Similarly, politicians make decisions[br]that affect the whole nation,

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while the people have[br]very little say in them.

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We need to change this,

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and in order to achieve[br]this change systematically,

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we need to teach people

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that political, national[br]and global affairs

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are as relevant to them[br]as personal and family affairs.

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So if we want to achieve this,[br]my proposal and advice is,

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try out the Family Democracy[br]Meeting system.

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Because that will enable your kids[br]to exercise their agency

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and decision-making from a very early age.

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Politics is about having conversations,

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including difficult conversations,

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that lead to decisions.

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And in order to have a conversation,[br]you need to participate,

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not sign off like I did when I was a kid

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and then learn the lesson the hard way[br]and have to go back again.

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If you include your kids[br]in family conversations,

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they will grow up

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and know how to participate[br]in political conversations.

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And most importantly, most importantly,

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they will help others engage.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)