Young people are key partners in negotiating and implementing peace agreements and conflict prevention
December 9th marked the seventh anniversary of the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth Peace and Security. This groundbreaking resolution first recognized the important and positive role of young women and men in the maintenance and promotion of international peace and security. Two Security Council Resolutions were subsequently adopted, 2419 (2018) and 2535 (2020), recognizing the positive role young people can play in negotiating and implementing peace agreements and in conflict prevention.
Throughout these years, the Peacebuilding Support Office in the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs has been instrumental in advancing the agenda globally within the UN System. The Peacebuilding Fund, through its Youth Promotion Initiative, continues to be the largest funding measure for Youth Peace and Security worldwide. In 2020 and 2021 alone, the Fund invested a total of $47.9 million in 35 projects that advanced the Youth Peace and Security Agenda in various contexts across the world. For example, in the Marka District in Somalia, young women and men from the Biyomal and Habargidir sub-clans are supported to lead the development of inclusive and participatory resource management systems to reduce inter-communal conflict over national resources, in a project implemented by FAO and IOM.
Furthermore, the meaningful inclusion of young voices in political debates is a key priority for the UN system. The Peacebuilding Commission adopted a Strategic Action Plan on youth and peacebuilding in 2020. In May 2022, the Commission held an Ambassadorial-level meeting on Youth, Peace and Security featuring four young peacebuilders from Africa, Latin America and Asia.
Yet some challenges in the implementation of UNSCR 2250 persist. While investment in youth greatly benefits efforts to achieve sustainable peace, Youth Peace and Security remains a largely underfunded area. The second report of the UN Secretary-General on Youth Peace and Security, published in March 2022, highlights the need for flexible, predictable and sustained financing to support the implementation of the agenda. The General Assembly Resolution A/RES/76/305 on Financing for Peacebuilding, unanimously adopted in September 2022, provides important commitments in this regard, urging efforts to address existing financing gaps for youth-led initiatives and youth-led organizations, particularly those active at the local level. Importantly, the resolution also encourages the meaningful participation of young women and men at all stages of peacebuilding programming and political processes, including through increased collaboration to identify financing priorities.
The second report of the Secretary-General on Youth, Peace and Security, also highlights the importance of advancing the institutionalization of the agenda at the international, regional and national levels. Progress has been made in this direction, for instance with the African Union establishing its 2020 African Union Continental Framework for Youth, Peace and Security and the League of Arab States currently developing a Regional Arab Strategy on YPS. YPS National Action Plans have also been developed recently by the Philippines and the Democratic Republic of the Congo can serve as an encouragement for other member states to anchor YPS in their national policy elements. The UN system, including the Peacebuilding Support Office, continues to develop these initiatives, which provide concrete frameworks for programmatic interventions aimed at advancing the Youth, Peace and Security Agenda.