The document discusses Afghanistan's first democratic election to elect a new president on April 5, 2014. Despite threats of violence, approximately 7 million Afghan citizens voted, many of whom were youth under age 25 who came of age during Afghanistan's conflict since 2001. These young voters widely used social media and mobile technologies to engage in the political process, reflecting Afghanistan's growing internet and connectivity over the past decade, spearheaded by its young population. As technology access expands further, Afghanistan's youth will remain politically engaged through digital connections.

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2. On April 5, 2014, Afghanistan held its first election to transition its government to a
new president. Despite threats of violence, the election proved to be largely peaceful
and drew an estimated 7 million Afghan citizens.

3. The population of Afghanistan is young: about two-thirds of people here are under
the age of 25. For this reason, a majority of voters in this election were youths who
grew up shaped by the conflict years in Afghanistan since 2001. Even though they
come from the same generation, they are also diverse, with views ranging across
the political spectrum.

4. However, a common thread uniting these voters during this election is their use of
social media and mobile technologies to engage in the democratic process. In a
study by the National Democratic Institute during the run-up to the election, it was
discovered that campaigning via these platforms was a crucial element of the
political process this year as compared to previous elections. This change stems
directly from the fact that the number of Internet users in Afghanistan has
skyrocketed in the last decade, rising a thousand-fold from just 2,000 in 2004 to well
over 2 million today. Most of these users, of course, are young people.

5. As the Afghan government and companies like Afghan Wireless continue to extend
the reach of communications technologies throughout Afghanistan, the nation’s
young people will continue to remain strongly connected to each other and to the
political future of their country.

6. As the Afghan government and companies like Afghan Wireless continue to extend
the reach of communications technologies throughout Afghanistan, the nation’s
young people will continue to remain strongly connected to each other and to the
political future of their country.