Dossier

Gen Z: Voices of a Global Generation

A new, unprecedented wave of young people claiming democratic spaces, both in the streets and online, has swept across the globe since the early 2020s. The Gen Z-led protests achieved not only temporary disruptions - in some cases they sparked revolutions. These movements challenge the idea that democracy itself is in decline. Instead, they point to widespread, grassroots demands for political systems that are more responsive, inclusive and effective.

This dossier examines youth-led movements and collectives, their strategies and their visions for a just future. It also explores the roots of their discontent, and its expression in digital spaces and the arts by bringing together young voices and perspectives from across the globe, the publication presents the diversity of youth-led movements in various formats.

Introduction

Sharing the Gen Z Struggle

Gen Z movements around the world have captured global attention, and many movements share similar characteristics in terms of tactics and forms of participation. Yet the driving forces behind these movements cannot be treated as a monolith. The protests in, for example, Bangladesh, Nepal, or Morocco, emerge from complex local contexts. At the same time, structurally similar forces exert pressures on youth and society more broadly, and the Gen Z protests represent an unfinished struggle against injustice, inequality, and inadequate governance.

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A colorful banner with the word 'Gen Z' in the center. On the left, a hand holds a smartphone with a pirate flag symbol (One Piece), on the right, a hand holds a megaphone. The background consists of vertical stripes, with decorative borders at the top and bottom featuring various icons such as a heart, fist, flame, and globe.

Contributions from Africa
Cover of the publication: Gen Z Against the State: Democracy in Crisis in Madagascar. Youth Resistance Amid Institutional and Regional Failures

Gen Z Against the State: Democracy in Crisis in Madagascar

Report
The 2025 Gen Z protests in Madagascar were catalysed by several key political events. Madagascar’s position as a Small Island Developing State, uniquely vulnerable to climate change and economic precarity, poses specific challenges, and the country’s government has failed to address these in a manner that protects the futures of its young people. The 2025 protests rallied against political corruption and government inadequacy, demanding a stronger and more just political system as well as greater accountability for systemic shortcomings. While President Rajoelina was ousted, more work is needed to ensure stronger foundations for the nation’s development and future.
Cover of publication: #JusticeForOchanya. Nigeria's Soro Soke Generation is Still Speaking Up

#JusticeForOchanya

Report
The death of 13-year-old Ochanya Ogbanje in 2018 sparked Nigeria’s #JusticeForOchanya movement seeking greater protections for women and girls against sexual and gender-based violence and greater accountability for perpetrators. The movement resurfaced in 2025 following concerted efforts at mobilisation, with renewed demands for justice and concrete procedural improvements. Interviews with movement organisers from different generations draw lessons on how such movements can be managed to ensure the attention and support needed to lead to long-term, structural change.

Contributions from Asia
Illustration: In the center of the image is a brown-green mountain, from whose peak large orange flames erupt. Four flags flutter around the mountain: the national flag of Nepal, a pirate flag, and two flags with abstract symbols and app icons. In the background are vertical stripes in pastel shades and green clouds. Colorful borders with symbols such as flames, speech bubbles, hearts, hashtags, and a clenched fist adorn the top and bottom edges.

Nepal’s Gen Z Revolution and the Politics of Visibility

Commentary
The 2025 Gen-Z uprising in Nepal was the culmination of multiple sources of discontent and resulted in the collapse of the government, but the young protesters’ tactics and values were jarring for older generations of Nepalis. The push for change was reinforced by young Nepalis living outside the country, and women also actively took part in various aspects of the uprising, challenging patriarchal norms. In March 2026, Nepalis voted to elect 35-year-old Balendra Shah, the youngest prime minister in the country’s history, signalling a new chapter for Nepali politics.
Nirvana Bhandary
Illustration: In the center of the image is a brown-green mountain, from whose peak large orange flames erupt. Four flags flutter around the mountain: the national flag of Nepal, a pirate flag, and two flags with abstract symbols and app icons. In the background are vertical stripes in pastel shades and green clouds. Colorful borders with symbols such as flames, speech bubbles, hearts, hashtags, and a clenched fist adorn the top and bottom edges.

Viral Resistance: Gen Z Revolution for Justice Across Asia

Audio Report
From Colombo to Kathmandu to Jakarta, a generation raised online is turning digital outrage into real-world protest, challenging power, demanding accountability, and redefining what revolution looks like across Asia. In this report, the journalist Ester Pinheiro speaks with: Sanskriti Pandey, sexual and reproductive rights young activist from Nepal. Sarthak Bhattarai, political reform activist from Nepal. Michelin Sallata, young Indigenous activist from Indonesia. Sulochana Peiris, documentary maker, researcher, writer, and director of the film #GoHomeGota from Sri Lanka. 
Ester Pinheiro
Cover of publication: From Screens to Streets: Decoding Bangladesh’s Gen Z July Uprising

From Screens to Streets: Decoding Bangladesh’s Gen Z July Uprising

Report
The 2024 July Uprising in Bangladesh integrated the characteristics of Gen Z revolutions around the world while also building upon the nation’s unique history of protests and resistance. Over the course of several weeks in the summer of 2024, the July Uprising operationalised tools such as street art, music, and memes and combined digital networks with in-person protests. By early August, the movement ousted Sheikh Hasina’s authoritarian regime, but whether the vision of the protesters can be sustained remains to be seen.

Contributions from Latin America
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Humour, hope and hashtags: how Gen Z is reshaping protest in Latin America

Commentary
From livestreams in Lima to mass marches in Mexico City and youth networks in Buenos Aires, a new generation is reshaping protest in Latin America. Gen Z activists respond to corruption, crime, and political instability by blending street mobilisation with digital organising, memes, and cultural expression. Decentralised, creative, and often born online, their movements show how humour, hope, and hashtags are transforming activism across the region.
Ester Pinheiro
Illustration of a dense primeval forest with various icons in speech bubbles symbolizing themes such as nature, education, housing and community.

Generation Z in Acre, Brazil: Dreams for the Future of the Forest

Report
In the Brazilian state of Acre, dominated by the Amazon Rainforest and inhabited by a diverse population, members of Generation Z who live in extractive reserves recognise that their future hangs on the effective management of natural and cultural resources and respect for local ways of life. The pressures of economic and state interests have threatened these lands in the past and continue to pose challenges to the preservation of ancestral knowledge and lifestyles. Still, Gen Z dares to dream of a hopeful future, placing emphasis on collective action and community mobilisation to safeguard this territory and its heritage. 
Laiane Santos, Claudia B. Pinzón Cuellar

Contributions from East & Southeast Europe
Illustration: A person stands triumphantly on the raised arms of a group, holding up the EU flag and the Georgian flag. Vertical stripes and falling drops are visible in the background. The top and bottom edges of the image are decorated with symbols such as hearts, stars, flames, and fists.

Youth, Emotions, and Civic Belonging in Georgia

Report
Georgian politics were rocked by sustained protests led by Gen Z from 2023 and 2024. Diaries kept by young people reveal the complex emotional arc many experienced as the protests unfolded, moulded by fear, anger, pride, and hope but also by disappointment and confusion. A shared sense of identity and history served to consolidate protesters’ voices and visions, with values associated with the European Union, including democracy and human rights, providing a frame of reference for protesters’ demands. 
Mariam Kalandadze, Nino Gozalishvili

Contributions from MENA
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"People see there is wealth, but it is poorly distributed"

Interview
The 2025 GenZ 212 protests in Morocco erupted due to systemic problems in the distribution of resources and development across the country. Despite the movement’s initial momentum among young people and Moroccan society more broadly, the lack of centralised coordination and outbreak of violence among protesters ultimately caused a reversal in public support. Nevertheless, the protests succeeded in extracting promises from the government to invest more funds into public goods such as education and hospitals.
Klarissa Krause, Dr. Mohammed Masbah
The central motif of the illustration is a Lebanese cedar tree. Small figures can be seen holding flags, using a megaphone for protest, or engaged in community action. The color scheme uses warm orange and red tones in the background, which contrast sharply with the deep green of the cedar.

Mothers, Memories, and Mobilisation: How Intergenerational Trauma Shapes Lebanese Gen Z Women’s Civic Engagement

Report
Inherited and intergenerational trauma produce complex effects at the individual, familial, and societal levels that can impact willingness to participate in public discourse and protest. In the Lebanese context, the mothers of Gen Z daughters have firsthand experience of high-stakes military conflict that often shape their perceptions of danger. Memories of war inform both mothers' responses to later events, such as the 2020 Beirut port explosion and the way they seek to protect their daughters from similar trauma. Daughters, in turn, inherit aspects of their mothers' trauma but nevertheless seek to engage with means of breaking cycles of violence.
Sam Chaaban
The Team

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