A recurrent theme that arose from the youth, peace and security (YPS) discussions ACCORD has engaged in has been the need for youth and youth-focused groups to avoid working in silos and to embrace peer-to-peer learning. As such, ACCORD, in collaboration with the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) Regional Youth Forum (RYF), hosted a dialogue entitled, Youth Building Peace: Highlighting Best Practices in Youth, Peace and Security, on 10 December 2023.
This side event to the YouthConnekt Africa Summit 2023, which took place in Nairobi, Kenya, brought together young people from across Africa to share their successes and solutions to peacebuilding challenges. The dialogue featured notable speakers such as Mr. Jacob Eyuru, President of the ICGLR RYF; Ms. Kombela Rachetee Rachel, the first Vice-President, ICGLR RYF; Ms. Audrine Faith Otieno, Chair of Peace and Security at the ICGLR RYF; Mr. Eddy Yav, Youth, Peace and Security Focal Point for the Office of the President in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Mr. Adeniran Rafiu Lawal, Team Leader for Building Blocks for Peace Foundation; Mr. Elnur Mammadov, Manager on Work with National Chapters at the Non-Aligned Movement Youth Organization Youth, Ms. Sara Sharaf, an Executive Committee member, ICGLR RYF; and Mr. Kizito Wekesa, a Youth Representative from Kenya.
A major theme emerging from the discussion was the importance of providing, and taking advantage of, learning and capacity strengthening opportunities for youth and organisations. This includes state and institutional opportunities such as scholarship programmes, schooling provisions and jobseekers training, as well as peer-learning platforms and research opportunities. Such opportunities provide nonviolent and productive occupations for young people, improve the quality of contributions young people make to peacebuilding opportunities, and reinforce the legitimacy and impact of youth in decision making positions. Another important theme was that of bridging the gap between grassroots youth groups and decision makers, including gathering and disseminating information on the work of youth practitioners.
This dialogue builds on previous engagements between ACCORD and the ICGLR, including a training and dialogue conducted with the ICGLR RYF in 2022, as well as a conflict analysis and mediation workshop for the ICGLR Women’s Forum, held in Nairobi in 2023. These activities align with ACCORD’s key strategic objective to enhance the institutional responses of regional bodies to complex conflicts, as well as ACCORD’s work in promoting the role and impact of youth in addressing conflict.
