<p>The multifaceted and diverse framing of the youth civic engagement approach, involving active citizenship, advocacy for human rights, social justice, and nation-building, underscores its complex yet vital significance. It is critically important for Timor-Leste, a post-conflict and relatively fragile state in Southeast Asia with a significant youth population, as it seeks to solidify democratic values and implement crucial reforms, particularly to address high youth unemployment. In this paper, by undertaking participatory youth consultations across Timor-Leste, the resulting findings are analyzed in conjunction with broader participation literature. Acknowledging similar findings across most fragile contexts, we discuss the specific structural factors in Timor-Leste that explain the need to foster youth agency. The findings highlight that although existing policies and frameworks recognise youth as a vital pillar of democratic governance, both as right-holders and stakeholders, stronger mechanisms in terms of political will and socialized values are needed to ensure their meaningful civic participation and influence decisions.</p>