Asian #Youth4Peace Programme 2020

what did it look like?

Click here for a video from participating organisation YCoalition in Bangladesh:

A positive change comes from the will to make a great difference. As many individuals become victimised to tyranny, social injustice, and mental trauma, their lack of awareness and adequate knowledge leads to staying silent. The glorious initiative taken by YCoalition to organise a series of workshops on youth gang conflict transformation, supported by UNOY Peacebuilders, in Dhaka acted as an awakening campaign for the youth to know about their surroundings and the source of all this distress prevailing in the society. With the support of honorable organisations, as well as proper advocacy from the distinguished guests and our profound trainers, the workshop proved to be a remarkable output for youth in our ever-evolving society.

What is youth 360?

Youth 360 is an carefully crafted approach to resource youth with essential tools that support them as active peace agents in their regions.

We designed this youth-sensitive methodology together with Search for Common Ground and UNAOC. It was specifically developed to serve small organisations and non-elite youth groups by strengthening peer-to-peer and youth-adult partnerships without enforcing NGO-isation. At the core of youth 360 is its holistic and participatory approach.

Why we need it?

Our evidence shows the majority of youth peace groups operate on tiny means, and often find the support intended for work like theirs inaccessible.

The youth 360 methodology aims to fix that by strengthening their capacities in leadership, fundraising, and organisational and financial management. Through training, mentorship, participatory grantmaking, and crowdfunding, the methodology is filling a gap of innovative, needs-based programming that gives agency to the young participants. Youth 360 is needed for a more accessible and sustainable way to support young peacebuilders.

advocacy

Key to successful advocacy is confidence. As a result of the training and mentorships, participants gained leadership skills and assurance in their knowledge to advocate for peace. All of the initiatives developed by the youth groups had an advocacy component, where they actively raised their voices and addressed certain issues facing their communities. For example, AYEPO in Afghanistan advocated for a culture of peace and nonviolent communication among students and teachers. Another group created a pool of advocates to speak up on mental health and peacebuilding.

capacity development

By piloting the youth 360 methodology, this programme was designed specifically to strengthen the capacities of youth peace groups in Asia. Through tailored mentorship, the participating groups developed useful knowledge and practical skills in conflict transformation, raising funds, and managing organisational processes. Given that some participants had never been involved in a training programme like this, the participatory grantmaking phase was especially unique. By the end, each group had developed an initiative, secured funding, and implemented the project in their communities; all of which served to increase their confidence, agency, and leadership in peacebuilding.

networking

Naturally, through the localised mentoring, the participating groups established strong connections with each other, learning from shared challenges specific to their youth-led projects and conflicts in their regions. Through the implementation of their initiatives, many participants reported new and fruitful partnerships with other youth groups, both within and outside of the programme, as well as non-youth (i.e. schools, universities, and local governments). These connections are crucial to sustaining and amplifying their efforts on the ground.