The role of youth in peacebuilding
From Never Again
Abstract by Marian Hodgkin
Peacebuilding, as a recognized process for the development of sustainable peace and a distinct field for academic study, is young. However, international institutions and current theoretical frameworks addressing the peacebuilding process in a variety of contexts do not actively include youth in mechanisms for consultation, policy creation and strategic planning and fail to fully engage youth in the maintenance and promotion of peace and security. This paper contends that post-Cold War contemporary armed conflicts display a number of common characteristics that demand the systematic involvement of youth in the prevention of conflict and post-conflict reconstruction process. There is an increased frequency of civil wars, a massive inflation of civilian casualties including the specific targeting of children and youth, a rise in the involvement of youth as actors in conflict as combatants and the existence of ‘complex emergencies’ that develop around conflict. These factors coupled with the often-noted point that the vast majority of conflicts are cyclical in nature, all point to the need for youth participation in peacebuilding.
The paper will argue that the increasing international institutional inclusion of women in peacebuilding, conflict prevention and resolution activities as demonstrated by the United Nations Resolution 1325 provides a model for similarly engaged and dynamic youth participation at both grassroots and global governance levels. Using Rwanda as a case study, the youth’s role in national and regional peacebuilding efforts will be analyzed. The author will use interviews with youth of the Great Lakes Region as well as essays written in a National Essay Competition which discuss the role of youth in Rwanda’s future, to enhance the reader’s understanding of the youths’ own conception of their responsibilities and rights. The paper also asserts that youth in ‘stable’ societies have an equally important role to play in local, national and international peacebuilding efforts.
