8. Sabeena, the Creative Changemaker

Building peace in my community is so complex that it requires creative and non-formal approaches, and constantly re-inventing them. Our ideas and approaches are rarely supported by donors or older actors in the field, despite their obvious added value to building peace locally. I’d love to be connected to other young changemakers in the world to learn from their creativity and tap into their innovative projects!

What if creative changemakers, like Sabeena, have the space and support to lead innovative action for peace? Sabeena manoeuvres a sector where there is a tendency to recycle old solutions with little innovation. Creative thinking and action, innovation, and a diversity of views and perspectives are key to challenging and changing the peacebuilding field for the better. Worldwide, young people like Sabeena have shown to be strikingly creative in addressing conflict around them, and in building spaces of belonging through which they express themselves. Sabeena innovates by offering critical new perspectives and insights to building peace. We see that too often traditional leadership styles and systems are lacking alternative expertise and talents, overlooking the potential and power of #Youth4Peace. In the world we make, Sabeena is leading innovation for sustainable change, and her alternative approaches to peace and security are expanded.

Shaping a new landscape

How do we go beyond simply participating in peace, and change traditional systems for the better? It starts by watering the roots of creativity, so that young people have the space to innovate, create and act. We will design spaces for peer exchange and developing capacities of our young changemakers to lead creative thinking and action for peace. While others overlook them, we will instill confidence in them by encouraging and expanding their approaches. We will also advocate for more traditional peacebuilders to endorse the power of young people’s creative contributions to peace processes.