UNOY’s input for the UN Peacebuilding Architecture Review

The UN is reviewing it’s peacebuilding architecture in 2015.  This means that the work of the Peacebuilding Fund, the Peacebuilding Commission and the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) is being assessed, and it offers an excellent opportunity to remind member states and the UN about the crucial need to involve young people in peacebuilding.

We have sent the following recommendations to the panel of the peacebuilding architecture review:

1. Youth should be highlighted as a priority area across the work of the entire UN peacebuilding architecture. The Guiding Principles on Young People’s Participation in Peacebuilding should serve as a base from which to mainstream youth in peacebuilding in the UN Peacebuilding Architecture.
2. Youth representatives should be included in the formulation of policy and strategic direction of UN peacebuilding bodies. There should be permanent mechanisms, such as a Youth Advisory Council, through which youth can directly engage with the Peacebuilding Support Office and the Peacebuilding Commission at the policy level (including in the field) through other UN bodies that operationalise peacebuilding projects.
3. The Peacebuilding Commission should establish an engagement strategy with youth civil society organisations and ensure that the young people and youth organisations consulted are representative of their broader communities and societies. This engagement must occur across peacebuilding processes in general and not limited to youth-specific issues.
4. The Peacebuilding Commission should include male and female youth leaders or youth-led organisations (at the national level) to hold positions on the National Steering Committee to represent and reflect the populations that interventions intend to serve.
5. The Peacebuilding Fund should prioritise programmes that engage youth as active agents of change across all sectors and consider the active presence of youth as a criterion and asset.
6. The Peacebuilding Support Office should institutionalise youth as a transversal theme in its structure, staffing and future strategy, to more effectively operate in the framework of the IANYD (UN Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development).
7. Substantive and logistical support such as funding, promotion and facilitation should be provided to civil society-driven efforts that enhance the role of youth in peacebuilding.
8. Mechanisms to measure and report on the role of youth in peacebuilding should be established, utilising current work already underway by civil society, UN agencies and national governments.

To see the full paper, please click here.