Youth and Peacebuilding

Every day and all over the world, young people engage in peacebuilding––in big and small ways.

While mobilizations of youth for violent causes, including the campaigns of ISIS, have captured headlines in recent months, every day in conflict zones around the world young people are building bridges across communities, working together, educating each other, and helping to manage conflict and promote peace.

These initiatives may often go unnoticed, but young people are vital stakeholders in conflict and in peacebuilding – they have the potential to act as community leaders in peacebuilding, reconciliation, and post conflict reconstruction. Behind the headlines, there is a new generation of peacebuilders, and they are raising their voices.

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) works with young people in conflict zones all around the world. In South Sudan, USIP's PeaceTech launched an initiative in collaboration with Free Voice South Sudan to address the ongoing conflict by creating a youth-oriented radio drama. Sawa Shabab (Together Youth) is designed to help South Sudanese youth understand their own potential as individuals, respect their differences, and find their commonalities.

In Iraq, Salam Shabab (Peace Youth) was the first real-life television program made to promote the empowerment of Iraqi youth. Filmed and produced in Iraq, each season of Salam Shabab followed 54 Iraqi teens from six different provinces as they produced their own short films, performed on stage, and used teamwork to win sport and mental challenges. This initiative was backed by a peacebuilding curriculum and earned international acclaim. Haitian children attend school in a former prison in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. A teacher writes on a blackboard while students work at their desks. (Photo Credit: Eliana Aponte Tobar/The New York Times)

A teacher and his students in a classroom in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Educated young people are empowered to build peace in their communities.

Another initiative is USIP’s Generation Change, which is a youth-driven global network dedicated to developing the next generation of leaders around the world. This program provides a support system, trainings, and resources for incredible young change-makers across the Middle East and Africa. During regional trainings, participants build relationships, learn about their conflict styles, and gain tools to improve their programming.

USIP also conducts training for young people who are politically active in the countries in which we work – for example, in 2013, a one-day conflict management session for the youth members of Pakistan’s political parties and the Pakistani youth parliament in Islamabad concluded a series of capacity-building workshops, which received highly positive feedback.

In 2012, USIP supported a team of Harvard University researchers who were carrying out a group psychosocial intervention in Freetown, Sierra Leone with youth affected by the 1991-2002 civil war. The intervention aimed to assist youth in navigating life stressors, addressing past trauma, and building the interpersonal skills necessary for success in their futures. USIP is committed to supporting youth in post-conflict countries and to improving the knowledge base on best practices for work with conflict-affected youth. Other USIP-funded projects have worked with former child soldiers in Mozambique, supported victims of armed conflict in Peru, and developed peer support work with Colombian ex-combatants and conflict survivors.

USIP’s Global Peacebuilding Center works to engage and empower the next generation of peacebuilders through online resources and activities, onsite and offsite educational programs, and other initiatives.

It is important for young people to understand the world around them and their role within it. As technologies change and relationships between peoples grow ever more interconnected, it becomes increasingly clear that the world is much smaller than it seems. What happens in other places has an impact on all of us.

By learning about the world, by gaining knowledge and skills, and by using everyday tools to engage with others, we can all share, connect, and join a growing community of peacebuilders.

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Youth and Peacebuilding