Part of UNOY’s mission is to 'connect people to partner for peaceful and inclusive societies'
As a global network with over 100 member organisations, UNOY Peacebuilders is rich in experience, skills, and knowledge across various fields of peacebuilding and geographical contexts. At the same time, our members face similar challenges, ranging from a lack of trust among decision-makers to limited resources. To address these issues, UNOY is committed to providing spaces to showcase members’ work, facilitate mutual learning, and foster cooperation and partnerships.
Peer-learning is a key way to achieve this. Sessions are hosted, facilitated, and attended by members for members. These peer-learning sessions are fundamental to increase members’ engagement within the UNOY network, foster cohesion among individuals, and enable members to gain new perspectives, including decolonised knowledge, less patriarchal practices, and enhanced critical thinking.
UNOY also serves as a platform to strengthen solidarity among peacebuilders from different countries. Collective values unite our members, as they can count on each others’ support and expertise in difficult times. They feel empowered vis-a-vis large institutions and organisations, as their voices are amplified by a global movement.
As part of UNOY, we learned from various other organisations in our monthly meetings, and also were part of international programmes that had their schematics and blueprints to give us insights on YPS methods and peacebuilding approaches.
- UNOY member, 2024
decentralisation
Since 2017, UNOY has worked on decentralising its structure to bring power and resources closer to its members, ensuring that the network is member-driven.
A key component of this process was the introduction of Regional Coordinators (RCs) across the six regions UNOY operates. Hosted by member organisations, RCs are instrumental in aligning global strategies with local realities through regional action plans co-drafted with UNOY members.
The International Secretariat, based in the Hague, The Netherlands, works closely with the International Steering Group, comprising six representatives elected by UNOY members in each region, ensuring that UNOY’s plans and activities reflect members’ needs and priorities.
Through this decentralisation, UNOY members have gained greater influence over the network’s direction. It has been a big step towards making UNOY more inclusive and representative Moving forward, our focus is to keep strengthening these structures, supporting RCs, and increasing opportunities for members to shape the network’s future.
