Amplifying youth voices and views on YPS policy and practice
In 2021, seven young changemakers from Kenya and Sweden came together for a series of conversations. They arrived at the discussion with different experiences, languages, and challenges. Through the conversations, shared values, concerns, and aspirations emerged.
The conversations were co-convened by LPI’s Sweden-based Peacefinders project and LPI’s Inclusive Peace in Practice program, in coordination with Interpeace. LPI’s programmes seek to create more inclusive and interactive spaces between peacebuilders and policymakers. Through equitable and repeated exchanges, policies can better reflect the needs and goals of people affected by conflict. LPI also recognizes that including youth in policy conversations and decision-making supports peace. Therefore, global peace policies like the Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS) Agenda must be locally relevant, regardless of whether a country has experienced a long-term conflict or is relatively peaceful.
In this spirit, during the conversations, young changemakers reflected on:
Challenges and opportunities for their communities,
What peace means to them,
How peace appears in their daily life, and
How the Youth, Peace and Security Agenda affects their communities.
The group discussed how to promote positive change in their communities and how inclusive policy discussions could result in policies reflecting their knowledge and experiences.
As a result, the young changemakers collaborated to produce a video expressing themes from the conversations. LPI wrote a policy brief based on these conversations and complementing the video, which the young changemakers affirmed reflects their voices and perspectives.
The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Swedish Mission Council (SMC), and Irish Aid funded the project.
Additional Resources
Outside the Box: Amplifying youth voices and views on YPS policy and practice