Roundtable Discussion with Norwegian UN Mission

The UNOY Youth Advocacy Team attended an informal breakfast meeting with representatives of the Norwegian Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York last week. The meeting brought together young peacebuilders and policy makers to discuss the role of young women and young men in promoting peace and countering violent extremism.

The event’s success was largely due to the engagement of the Norwegian mission representatives with the youth speakers. The willingness of policy and decision-makers to listen to the work undertaken by young peacebuilders, hear what makes them effective and why they should be invested in is a critical step and excellent example to be followed by decision-makers.

The voices of young peacebuilders were put at the forefront of discussion to share stories on the impact of their work, and why young women and young men both play key roles in building sustainable peace. GulalaI Ismail spoke first about her work in Pakistan, on the importance of empowering young women and girls and the challenges they face. Obi Peter discussed the role of youth in Nigeria, particularly by working with their peers, bringing together young women and men for interfaith dialogue to promote tolerance and understanding.

The use of mindfulness was put forward by Paula Ramirez as a key tool in her work with young people in Colombia. She explained the necessity of both young women and men understanding themselves and their emotions in order to engage thoughtfully and positively in their environment, especially in (post) conflict situations. Marouane Bakit shared his work with youth in Libya, where young people are at the forefront of creating a sound civil society base through training and workshops with their peers. Lastly, Meg Villanueva spoke about her peers in the Philippines, who played a key role is ongoing peace negotiations through engagement and facilitation of messages between parties.

Following the youth speakers, representatives from civil society organisations (Search for Common Ground, World Vision), United Nations bodies (UNFPA, UN PBSO, UNDP) and representatives spoke about the importance of youth in this area and the need to meaningfully include them. Issues discussed between all parties included the central role of gender, financing and mechanisms to further include youth in peacebuilding activities at all levels.