Youth participation in post-Soviet countries: institutionalised activism, state youth organisations and challenges in implementing SDG 16.7

This article investigates how post-Soviet states integrate the participatory principles of SDG 16.7 into their youth policy frameworks while preserving long-standing state-managed forms of engagement. Focusing on Russia and Belarus, the study conducts comparative and discourse analyses of national youth strategies, SDG implementation documents, and the charters of major state-supported youth organisations. The analysis reveals a strong discursive alignment with SDG 16.7 across two countries. In practice, however, youth participation remains highly constrained. State-affiliated organisations reproduce hierarchical structures rooted in Soviet mobilisation models, prioritising patriotic socialisation, loyalty-building and civic service over representation, contestation or shared decision-making. Despite cross-country variation in policy design and organisational diversity, youth participation is largely symbolic and aligned with state-defined priorities. These findings show that the localisation of SDG 16.7 in post-Soviet contexts risks becoming a performative exercise that reinforces existing power arrangements rather than expanding political agency.