Participation of Youth as Partners in Peace and Development in Post-Conflict Countries
14 to 16 November 2006 Windhoek, Namibia
- Final Report of the Meeting (forthcoming)
- Recomendations
- Background and overview
- List of participants
- Agenda of the meeting
- Documents
- Opening Remarks - Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Africa, OSAA
- Opening Remarks - Simon R Nhongo, UN Resident Coordinator
- Overview of Issues and Challenges - Dapo Oyewole, Executive Director, Centre for African Policy & Peace Strategy (CAPPS)
- The Creation of Job/Work Opportunities and Income Generating Activities for Youth in Post-Conflict Countries - Francis Chigunta, Department of Development Studies, University of Zambia
- Reintegration of Youth into Society in the Aftermath of War - Alcinda Honwana, Professor of International Development, The Open University
- Youth in Post-Conflict Africa: Community-Based Rehabilitation, Rebuilding and Reconstruction of Society - Dr. Melsome M. Nelson-Richards, Department of Sociology, State University of New York at Oswego
The United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on Africa convened this Expert Group Meeting on “Youth in Africa: Participation of Youth as Partners in Peace and Development in Post-Conflict Countries”. It was held in Windhoek, Namibia from 14 to 16 November 2006 and was organized in cooperation with the Division for Social Policy and Development (DSPD) of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA).
The Expert Group Meeting worked to critically analyze the complexity and gravity of the challenges youth face in post-conflict situations in Africa, with the core objective of devising specific strategies and mechanisms to include youth as central stakeholders in rehabilitation, reconciliation, and rebuilding of war-torn communities, and contributing to sustainable development in their countries. The meeting was conducted in plenary, as well as working groups in the form of multi-stakeholder dialogue, and focused on three main themes: (i) integration of youth, in particular the reintegration of ex-combatants into societies; (ii) creation of job/work opportunities and income generating activities for youth; and (iii) community-based rehabilitation and rebuilding with a focus on securing access to basic services.
The participants included experts, representatives of local and national Governments, regional and sub-regional organizations, United Nations entities, local and international Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), academia, the private sector, the media, as well as youth leaders, and young people from the host country.
The main outcome of the meeting was a set of policy recommendations, based on the analysis contained in expert contributions and the outcomes of the working groups, to promote the productive inclusion of youth in society and their participation as partners in post-conflict peacebuilding and conflict-prevention efforts.
For more information, please contact Ms. Makiko Tagashira at tagashira@un.org.