“Since 2012, we have always worked with young people on the ground; not as beneficiaries, but rather as our partners”
November 6, 2026 – This week, WPDI took its approach to youth-led peacebuilding to the global stage at the One Young World Summit in Cape Town. Founder and CEO Forest Whitaker and Executive Director Caroline Descombris were joined by two of the organization’s South African Youth Peacemakers for a conversation on the role young people play in building more peaceful communities.
On the first day of the Summit, Youth Peacemakers Khadija Mayman and Rancenzo De Jager, both from the Cape Flats in Cape Town and trained by WPDI in 2019, joined Forest Whitaker and Caroline Descombris on the main stage for a fireside chat during the Peace and Security Plenary. Hosted by WPDI and moderated by Regan Adams, CEO of long-standing WPDI partner RCS, the session presented the organization’s vision and work to an audience of 2,000 young leaders representing 196 countries.
Forest Whitaker, who also serves as UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation, opened by placing the discussion within the broader global effort to advance a culture of peace. He drew attention to UNESCO’s Call by Young People for a New Culture of Peace, an initiative that reflects the growing recognition that young people must be active participants in shaping a more peaceful world.
“This is also the conviction at the heart of UNESCO’s Call by Young People for a New Culture of Peace in the Minds of Women and Men for the 21st Century,” he said. “Developed by 145 young leaders from 135 countries, the Call sets out concrete recommendations for how we can strengthen peace in a world increasingly challenged by conflict, polarization, discrimination and disinformation.”
UNESCO Member States welcomed the Call last month, marking an important step toward translating young people’s recommendations into action. For Whitaker, however, the real measure of progress lies in what happens next. “That matters,” he said. “But what matters even more is whether we translate its recommendations into action.”
It is a conviction that has guided WPDI since its founding in 2012. Through its work across communities affected by conflict and violence, the organization has sought to equip young people not simply to participate in peacebuilding, but to become leaders of it.
As Executive Director, Caroline Descombris has helped translate this vision into programs that combine peace education, conflict resolution skills and opportunities for young people to lead initiatives in their communities.
“Since 2012, we have always worked with young people on the ground; not as beneficiaries, but rather as our partners”
This approach is particularly visible in South Africa, where WPDI works with young people, schools and communities to build the skills needed to prevent and resolve conflict. Regan Adams, who has followed the organization’s work over the years, reflected on the importance of this bottom-up approach, in which lasting change is driven by the people closest to the challenges themselves.
The impact is reflected in the organization’s work across the Cape Flats. In 2025, WPDI trained 339 Youth Peacemakers in South Africa, who went on to reach 15,041 people through community initiatives. The organization also partnered with 40 schools, where 8,119 learners completed Conflict Resolution Education, and trained 250 correctional officers at Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison. For WPDI, these figures represent more than program achievements. They reflect the potential of investing in young people as partners in building safer communities.
That potential was brought to life by Khadija Mayman and Rancenzo De Jager, whose own journeys from the Cape Flats to the One Young World stage illustrated what this investment can make possible. Speaking directly to an audience of fellow young leaders, Rancenzo De Jager emphasized that the responsibility for change cannot be left to others. “We need to bring it home,” he said. “You have to be the peace. You have to make the change you want to see.”
Khadija Mayman echoed the importance of turning connections and shared ambitions into collective action, pointing to the extraordinary concentration of young talent in the room.
“The world is in this room. You are the resource. Find the people in this room who share your passion, and make it happen.”
Their presence on the global stage offered a reminder that peacebuilding does not begin in international conference halls. It takes root in communities like the Cape Flats, where young people equipped with the right skills can become catalysts for change.
This is the work at the heart of our organization’s mission: ensuring that young people have the tools and opportunities to become not only advocates for peace, but the people who make it possible.