Youth and Peacebuilding Key Insights and Lessons from a Global Online Consultation June 2019 Greg Funnell Greg About This Report
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Youth and Peacebuilding Key insights and lessons from a global online consultation June 2019 Greg Funnell Greg About this report This report presents insights and recommendations from young peacebuilders on the current state of youth-led peacebuilding and the operationalisation of principles at the forefront of the Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) Agenda. Peace Direct in collaboration with the United Network of Young (UNOY) Peacebuilders held a three-day online consultation from 8-10 April 2019, with over 140 participants and guest contributors who exchanged insights and local experiences on YPS across three thematic categories, namely (1) Deconstructing the role of youth in peacebuilding, (2) Moving towards empowerment and inclusion, and (3) Investing in youth peacebuilding capacities. We thank Christian Cito Cirhigiri as the main author of this report. This report has been edited by Peace Direct. The main sections of the report include contributions from participants that took part in the online consultation. Where quotes are anonymous, they are from participants who preferred to keep their identities private for personal and/or security concerns. The contents of this report are the responsibility of Peace Direct. The text in this report should not be taken to represent the views of any other organisation. 2 Peace Direct | Youth and Peacebuilding 1 Peace Direct | Youth and Peacebuilding Contents Acknowledgments 3 Abbreviations 3 Executive Summary 4 Key Insights 5 Recommendations 6 Introduction 8 1 Methodology 10 2 Definitions and international frameworks 12 2.1 Peacebuilding 12 2.2 Young peacebuilder 13 2.3 UNSCR 2250 and SDG 16 13 2.4 Addressing the gaps 14 3 Deconstructing youth identity 16 3.1 Constructed identities 17 3.1.1 Is UNSCR 2250 enough? 17 3.1.2 Exclusion and radicalisation 18 3.1.3 Youth preventing electoral violence 18 3.2 Diversity and gender among youth constituencies 18 3.2.1 Understanding where youth and gender intersect 19 3.2.2 Deconstructing gender roles and addressing masculinity 19 3.3 Debunking stereotypes and assumptions about young peacebuilders 20 3.3.1 Young peacebuilders as active agents of conflict transformation 20 Case study: La Panga and BogotArt in Colombia 22 1 Peace Direct | Youth and Peacebuilding 4 Barriers and challenges for young peacebuilders 24 4.1 Structural and policy barriers 25 4.1.1 Shrinking civic engagement spaces 25 4.1.2 Lack of economic opportunities 25 Case study: RURCON Nigeria 27 4.2 Process barriers and internal challenges 28 4.2.1 Funding for youth-led peacebuilding challenges 28 4.2.2 Transparency and accountability 28 5 Strategies for effective inclusion of young peacebuilders 30 5.1 Empowerment through political processes 31 5.1.1 Addressing campaign politics and violence 31 5.1.2 Towards a new political culture 32 Case study: Partnering to tackle youth stigmas in the Sava region of Madagascar 33 5.1.3 Restoring political trust 34 5.2 Connecting local agendas to YPS 34 5.2.1 Youth’s grassroots approach 34 6.2.2 Towards effective youth peace networks 37 Case study: Benefits of Youth Peace Networks: Looking at the success of UNOY’s Organisational Development 38 5.3 Developing youth leadership 39 5.3.1 Positive Leadership 39 Case study: The Story of Boy Dhessa Pasha and Congo United 40 5.4 Building intergenerational partnerships 41 Conclusions and recommendations 42 Appendix: Participants 44 2 Peace Direct | Youth and Peacebuilding 3 Peace Direct | Youth and Peacebuilding Acknowledgments Peace Direct would like to extend a very special thanks to our participants and guest contributors for their commitment and valuable inputs to this report, and for engaging proactively in the online consultation with respect and without judgement. We received over 400 engaging comments over nine discussion threads and benefitted from everyone’s insights and recommendations on the formulation of strategies to foster effective youth inclusion in varied peacebuilding contexts around the world. Abbreviations CSOs Civil Society Organisations UN United Nations DRC Democratic Republic of Congo UNDP United Nations Development Programme ECOSOC Economic and Social Council UNFPA United Nations Population LfR Letters for Reconciliation Fund LVP Local Voices for Peace UNOY United Network of Young NVR National Voluntary Review Peacebuilders SCR Security Council Resolution WtR Write to Reconcile SDGs Sustainable Development YPS Youth, Peace and Security Goals 3 Peace Direct | Youth and Peacebuilding Executive Summary Almost four years since the historic adoption of the United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution (SCR) 2250, most signatory Member States are still lagging in supporting youth-led initiatives and generating conducive environments for youth inclusion at the local level. Despite most governments’ failure to implement young peacebuilders are experiencing in the this resolution and support youth-led peacebuilding implementation of SCR 2250. Participants of initiatives, young peacebuilders around the the online consultation delineated the tensions world are charting creative and innovative that exist between their optimistic individual ways to assert their voices, thus contributing attitudes, behaviours, and aspirations underlying to advancing youth inclusion in peacebuilding their peacebuilding efforts, and the attitudes processes globally. Drawing on a three-day online and behaviours of policymakers toward youth- consultation organised by Peace Direct and led peacebuilding initiatives. Thus, a central United Network of Young (UNOY) Peacebuilders question that the report posits for policymakers, in April 2019 with local peacebuilders from governments, peacebuilding organisations, research across the world, this report shares key insights institutions, and young peacebuilders working and policy recommendations to enhance youth to advance the Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) inclusion in peacebuilding processes in light of Agenda is: how can we effectively support and young peacebuilders’ strengths and aspirations to engage the growing number of youth peacebuilders transform their respective contexts. around the world? How can we ensure greater support and identify a new approach to engage This report forms part of Peace Direct’s Local youth peacebuilders? Voices for Peace (LVP) Report series and seeks to amplify young peacebuilders’ voices and To advance youth inclusion in peacebuilding explore the different, innovative ways in processes, it is critical that policymakers and which they are advancing youth inclusion in local stakeholders choose to perceive young political and peacebuilding processes in their peacebuilders and youth in general as allies for good contexts. It underscores the challenges that rather than threats to contain. 4 Peace Direct | Youth and Peacebuilding 5 Peace Direct | Youth and Peacebuilding Key Insights The three-day online consultation, convened by Peace Direct and UNOY, sought to explore the innovative ways in which local young peacebuilders are advancing youth inclusion in political and peacebuilding processes in their different contexts. Participants were invited to contribute to a series of online, text-based discussions for three days. Over 140 participants took part from 56 countries. The most noteworthy insights and recommendations from the online consultation are summarised below: • Participants of the online consultation • Despite exclusion from political and policy juxtaposed the optimistic individual attitudes processes, most young people do not turn and behaviours of many young people driving to violence as a solution for political change. peacebuilding efforts with thefailure of policy However, such exclusion can exacerbate the makers to recognise and support the positive risk of violence and radicalisation in certain potential of youth in peacebuilding processes contexts. as agents of conflict transformation. • Existing gender norms can affect which youth • Most governments have thus far failed to groups can access peacebuilding processes. adequately implement SCR 2250 at the local level. Youth peacebuilders face combined • To advance the inclusion of youth, and other challenges of shrinking civic engagement marginalised groups such as women, in spaces, limited access to individual economic peacebuilding processes, it is critical to also opportunities or organisational funding, and a recognise and account for the destructive lack of transparency from governments on the roles these constituencies have played in implementation of the YPS Agenda. conflicts — allowing appropriate transitional and restorative justice mechanisms to address • It is important that policymakers open political past abuses. This is especially crucial in spaces for youth to fully participate in both countries with histories of unaddressed past the formulation of decision-making structures grievances in which youth were perpetrators of and actual decision-making processes. Open violence. dialogue is key to building trust between youth peacebuilders and policymakers. 5 Peace Direct | Youth and Peacebuilding Recommendations Governments, multilateral actors and civil society • Undertake intersectional analyses to groups should: understand and address factors impeding the full recognition of the contributions of young • Recognise the force of youth peacebuilders women and other marginalised youth groups. as agents of conflict transformation and It is important to promote the inclusion of girls peacebuilding. Governments must urgently and women in peacebuilding processes by