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June 19, 2019\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 Last week, Forest Whitaker \u2013 the CEO and Founder of the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI) \u2013 took part in the 2019 Brilliant Minds Summit in Stockholm, Sweden, where he urged the world to embrace youth empowerment as a key tool for peacebuilding. Over a two-day period, from June 13-15, world leaders – including former US President Barack Obama – conferred at the Brilliant Minds Summit, which was themed\u00a0\u201cFluxability Quotient\u201d. It called for \u201cbig picture thinking, bucking the way things have always been done\u201d and for \u201centrepreneurs and leaders [to] work together in a marriage of exponential creativity and core values rooted in equality, transparency, social responsibility, and harmony of land and humankind.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n At the summit during a discussion session with Verizon CEO and WPDI board member Hans Vestberg, moderated by journalist Isha Sesay, Mr. Whitaker explained how the \u201cunique energy and perspective\u201d that young people possess are key and must be harnessed if, collectively, we want to successfully face our most pressing global challenges. Mr. Vestberg \u2013 one of WPDI\u2019s strongest supporters\u00a0dating back to 2012 when he was CEO of Ericsson \u2013 stressed the importance of technology in peacebuilding. Both notions are at the heart of our work in places like the United States, Mexico, South Sudan, South Africa, and Uganda\u00a0where WPDI partners with young people to bring about transformative change. We do this through our Youth Peacemaker Network initiative, which intensively trains cohorts of youths in some of the most vulnerable places around the world for a year-long period in topics including Conflict Resolution Education, Information and Communications Technology, and Business and Entrepreneurship. Upon completing their training, they return to their communities to develop social impact businesses, conduct reconciliatory community dialogues, and replicate their training to other youths.<\/span><\/p>\n In his closing remarks at the discussion session, Mr. Whitaker noted that \u201cwe live in a time when we have the largest youth generation in human history, with 1.8 billion young people today alive between the ages of 15-29. 90 percent live in developing countries and one in four \u2013 approximately 408 million \u2013 live in settings directly affected by armed conflict or organized violence. Yet, we know that so many of them are brilliant minds that could change the course of things around them and beyond. Let\u2019s think about that, about the potential for transformation that we could unlock if we invest serious resources in projects developed by young people to promote peace and sustainable development in their communities. Let\u2019s do our part.\u201d After last week, WPDI is in its strongest position yet to continue doing just that in the coming months and years.<\/span><\/p>\n