Between 2015 and 2020, the CoP aimed to explore and promote the role of youth in peacebuilding efforts by:
Expanding the evidence base (gathering and sharing field and academic knowledge) to demonstrate the complementary nature of Positive Youth Development (PYD) and peacebuilding efforts;
Disseminating actionable learning for implementers and policy makers to incorporate PYD into their programs targeting violence or conflict-affected youth populations.
CoP Achievements:
- Attracted a large number of CoP members: over 1,000 members
- Created briefs. This process involved contributions from CoP members and encouraged active participation.
- Promising Practices in Engaging Youth in Peace and Security and PVE/CVE
- What Works in Youth in Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance
- Engaging Youth in Disaster, Conflict & Peacebuilding Efforts (forthcoming)
- Youth in Peace and Security Community of Practice Meetings
- Webinars:
- ICT in the Hands of Youth
- Two YouthTalks Sessions: "The Role of Young People in Achieving the SDGs"
- The Missing Peace - Independent Progress Study on Youth, Peace and Security.
- Analysis of Cognitive and Psychosocial Pathways Leading to EMPOWERMENT and RADICALIZATION – Two Sides of the Same Coin?
- Strategies for Engaging Youth Refugees: Lessons from Niger
- Girl Research and Learning (GRL) Power Project: What can we learn from girl-led research in Jordan? (2 sessions, one in Arabic)
- Maximizing Youth Potential and Contribution - Incorporating Safe Public Spaces in Positive Youth Development Programs (2 sessions)
- Beyond Dividing Lines: Overcoming Challenges in Youth-led Civic Engagement for Peace – webinar with grantee UNOY.
- Youth Participation and Peace-building in Conflict and Post-conflict Environments: The Case of Tajikistan.
- Twitter Chat on Gender Based Violence (GBV): "Positive steps to end GBV: transforming gender norms though positive youth development."
- Grants:
- Created concept for grants on YouthPower Learning Grants for Advancing the Evidence Base for Youth Civic Engagement in Effective Peacebuilding or Mitigating Violent Extremism. Four grantees were selected.
- Regularly alerted members of new events and managed the CoP conversation through the Google group.
Membership
Membership included youth development practitioners, researchers, consultants and youth-serving or youth-led organizations dedicated to ensuring meaningful youth engagement in programming globally.
Members were interested in keeping up with youth engagement efforts in areas such as: peacebuilding; unaccompanied minors; sex trafficking; democracy, human rights, and governance; and youth leadership.
This CoP is no longer active. Join the new CoPs under YP2LE today!
Goals:
- Share what the global community is learning in mainstreaming youth empowerment and peacebuilding into international development work.
- Facilitate CoP members’ exchange of knowledge, experiences, and ideas to build a better understanding of which PYD programs are effective in violence or conflict-affected environments.
- Contribute to the PYD indicator development and identify PYD indicators that can be used effectively in these environments.
- Identify resilience factors that help youth-led or youth-serving organizations to successfully survive and thrive in these environments.
Members Engaged and Contributed by
- Joining the webinars and conference calls
- Commenting on draft papers and approaches
- Contributing relevant resources to the YP website, blogs, case studies
- Participating in a working group that is focused on a specific sub-topic or deliverable
- Joining and shaping a new working group on PYD for Youth in Central America which is focusing on the ways in which PYD approaches can be applied in these countries, what specific challenges PYD approaches encounter in these countries, and how youth voices can be included when developing these approaches.
YouthPower Learning CoP Resources:
Promising Practices in Engaging Youth in Peace and Security and P/CVE
What Works in Youth in Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance
Engaging Youth in Disaster, Conflict & Peacebuilding Efforts
Grant Deliverables
Association Malienne pour la Survie au Sahel (AMSS): Comparative Research in Northern Mali
- A research document that includes a description of the research methodology, key findings, first-person, and focus group accounts, and recommendations;
- A two-page practitioner brief in English, French, and local Malian languages (and with illustrations for the illiterate) which was distributed broadly.
Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia, Tajikistan
UNOY Peacebuilders: Understanding youth-led civic engagement in peacebuilding: Examining the context and contributions of young peacebuilders in Afghanistan, Libya, Sierra Leone and Colombia
- Report: Beyond Dividing Lines-The reality of youth-led peacebuilding in Afghanistan, Colombia, Libya and Sierra Leone
- Policy Briefs: Beyond Dividing Lines: Youth-led Civic Engagement for Peace
- Webinar Resources and Recording: Beyond Dividing Lines: Overcoming Challenges in Youth-Led Civic Engagement for Peace
- Blog Post: Revealing young Libyan's aspiration through research
- Blog Post: From perpetrator to facilitators: Youth in Sierra Leone are leading change
Equal Access International
Radicalization and Empowerment: Re-Framing Human Potential to Strengthen Youth Civic Engagement in Northern Nigeria
- "We Were Changing the World": Radicalization and Empowerment among Young People Associated with Armed Opposition Groups in Northeast Nigeria
- Two Sides of the Same Coin? An Examination of the Cognitive and Psychosocial Pathways Leading to EMPOWERMENT and RADICALIZATION, and a Model for Reorienting Violent Radicalization
- Webinar: White Dove radio project in Nigeria
- Webinar: Analysis of Cognitive and Psychosocial Pathways Leading to EMPOWERMENT and RADICALIZATION - Two Sides of the Same Coin?
Other Resources:
Rogan, J. (2016). Young People's Participation in Peacebuilding: A Practice Note.
Cameron, D.B., et. al. (2015) Evidence for Peacebuilding. An Evidence Gap Map.
McGill, M. and O'Caine, C. (2015). Evaluation of Child and Youth Participation in Peacebuilding.
United Nations. (2015). United Nations Security Resolution on Youth, Peace, and Security (SCR 2250).
OECD. (2011). Conflict and Fragility Reducing the Involvement of Youth in Armed Violence.
USAID. (2005). Youth & Violence: A Toolkit for Intervention.
Websites:
Former Co-Champions
Gilbert Mwenedata, Independent Consultant
Gilbert Mwenedata is a Conflict and Youth Expert dedicated to helping young people develop leadership qualities and find a better transitional pathway to adulthood. He possesses more than 13 years of professional experience in developing strategic public-private partnerships and developing youth activities across various sectors. He has worked with World Vision and USAID in various countries on programs focused on equipping youth with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed. He is fluent in both English and French, and he is highly effective in cross-cultural environments.
Kery Lowry, Independent Consultant
Keri Lowry is a senior executive with nearly 20 years of extensive experience in foreign policy, national security, global development, humanitarian assistance, and international education and cultural exchanges. Her experience includes Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Private Sector Exchange at the U.S. Department of State, and Director of Government Affairs and Public Engagement at the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service.
Maria Brindlmayer, Senior KM Specialist, YouthPower Learning at Making Cents International
Maria serves as Senior Knowledge Management (KM) Specialist for YouthPower Learning. In this capacity, she leads the online learning hub, communities of practice, and grants components, in addition to co-leading the Youth in Peace and Security CoP. Since 2013, she has also served on the Secretariat for the Building Evidence in Education (BE2) donor working group.
Dr. Jen Heeg, Independent Consultant
Jen's background spans academia, policy, and implementation. She is a specialist in the fields of peacebuilding, community strengthening, youth engagement, and countering violent extremism. She has over 14 years’ professional experience in the United States and overseas, especially in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
Valerie Haugen, independent contractor for Making Cents International
Valerie is an independent consultant with 30 years of experience in a variety of sectors and in developing countries worldwide, particularly those affected by conflict and crisis and fragility. Valerie has a doctoral degree in international development and peace and conflict studies and developed the USAID Checklist for Conflict Sensitivity in Education Programming.
Former Facilitator
Omitogun Abolaji, Knowledge Management and Communications Atlas Corps Fellow, YouthPower Learning/YouthLead, Making Cents International
Abolaji is a social and business entrepreneurship enthusiast vested and passionate about youth development and empowerment. He is focused on fighting poverty and economic hardship through knowledge, skills sharing, and capacity development mechanisms. Abolaji has 5 years' experience working with startups and small businesses in Africa.
Former Expert Advisors
Luis A. Viguria, Chief Executive Officer at Young Americas Business Trust/OAS
Luis has been a leader and advocate for youth for many years, with a special focus on Latin America. Since joining Young Americas Business Trust/OAS over 10 years ago, he has worked in cooperation with the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) to promote social and economic development among young people and launched many initiatives that support young entrepreneurs.Luis was born and raised in Peru and graduated in Social Sciences with a minor in Economics from Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru, and graduated from the Global Master of Arts Program in International Relations at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University. Luis is also the leader of the new Working Group PYD for Youth in Central America.
Valerie Lorena, Executive Director at Young Americas Business Trust/OAS
Valerie Lorena's work has focused on peace and conflict, gender, youth, orphans and vulnerable children (including girls and people with disabilities). She has been an active spokesperson for the concerns of the younger strata and has expertise in youth entrepreneurship, leadership and innovation involving multiple sectors and international stakeholders in Latin America and the Caribbean.