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The Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI) and Interpeace call on international actors to step up and make the most important investment we can possibly make to our collective future \u2013 today\u2019s young people.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u2022 We live in a time where we have the largest youth generation in human history, with 1.8 billion young people today alive between the ages of 15 to 29. GENEVA, Switzerland, Friday 8 March<\/strong>. The Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI) and Interpeace today launch a call for the international community to make a transformative change to the way we engage young people in peace and development. We recognize the growing evidence base that shows the empowerment of young people is the key factor to peace in many of the most fragile and conflict-affected settings in the world today.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, the common framing of young people is disproportionately negative. Too often, they are seen as part of the problem and not enough as part of the solutions\u201d<\/em>\u00a0says\u00a0Forest Whitaker, CEO and Founder of the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative<\/strong>.\u00a0\u201cYet you will find that in conflict and violence-affected areas, and other places, there are many young people working collectively and independently for peace and sustainable development.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Until recently, the role of youth leadership, agency, and voice in building peace has remained largely unrecognized and unacknowledged. This is changing through the UN\u2019s recent groundbreaking resolution 2250 on Youth Peace and Security, where the UN Security Council expressed a significant normative shift in highlighting the positive and critical role young people can play in ending conflicts and fostering peace.<\/p>\n Now, a strong commitment from the international community is required to invest in the capacities and agency of young women and men.\u00a0\u201cYoung people want to be heard, they want to be part of the decisions that affect them, their communities, and their countries \u2013 they have an immense ambition for action that we must put to the service of peace. We must go beyond the current ad-hoc efforts and achieve the catalytic scale to make real, transformative change happen\u201d<\/em>\u00a0added\u00a0Scott Weber, President of the international organization for peacebuilding Interpeace<\/strong>.<\/p>\n This shift is critical especially across Sub-Saharan Africa where not only is 71% of the population under the age of 29 but also where many of the world\u2019s most intense conflicts exist alongside chronic underinvestment in the future of young people. By realizing a collective shift in how we perceive young people and then investing in them and their agency it will be possible to build long-term sustainable peace.<\/p>\n For more information: About Interpeace, International Organization for Peacebuilding\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Interpeace is the International Organization for Peacebuilding established in 1994 by the United Nations to develop innovative solutions to build peace. Interpeace has operated programs in Latin America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia and currently supports more than 21 locally led peacebuilding initiatives around the world. Web: www.interpeace.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI) and Interpeace call on international actors to step up and make the most important investment we can possibly make to our collective future \u2013 today\u2019s young people.\u00a0 \u2022 We live in a time where we have the largest youth generation in human history, with 1.8 billion young people… View Article<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[14],"class_list":["post-2457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-advocacy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\n\u2022 Of this 1.8 billion, 90 percent live in developing countries, and almost one in four, or approximately 408 million, are living in settings directly affected by armed conflict or organized violence.
\n\u2022 The international community needs to dramatically step up efforts to generate better data on youth development and support evidence-based youth-led peace and development initiatives. \u2022 Through shifting our perceptions of the positive role youth can have on peace and generating better data, it will be possible enable the transformative youth-focused peace and development needed to transform the sources of young people\u2019s exclusion.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Caroline Descombris, Executive Director WPDI \u2013 caroline@wpdi.org +1(323)317-0969
\n\u2022 Alexandre Munaf\u00f2, Head of Strategic Partnerships & Communications Interpeace \u2013 munafo@interpeace.org +41 79 272 73 22.<\/p>\n