Youth, Violence and Conflict transformation: Exploring mobilization into violence and the role of youth in peacebuilding

Alarm caused by the burgeoning global youth population and young people¿s potential roles in causing or sustaining conflict have been well documented, whilst their contribution to building peace is often overlooked. Young people often present a combative or destabilising force within post-conflict communities, but they also work on the frontlines of peacebuilding, contributing to the rebuilding of civil society and the local economy. Their lack of political representation and their marginalisation from decision-making in many conflict-affected societies explains why these positive contributions go unrecognized. The disparities that young face in accessing economic, political and socio-cultural resources explains why the impact of youth peacebuilding activity is sometimes limited. Many young people also experience a `double¿ marginalisation because of their gender, disability, religion or ethnic status, yet current literature and programming often fails to take account of this in seeking to understand barriers to youth participation. Recognising that international actors are increasingly aware of the need to include young people more substantively in shaping society, the proposed project will address the question of how the peacebuilding sector might be enabled to fully integrate young people into activities geared towards political change and positive peace. How can we ensure that young people¿s voices are listened to and acted upon in societies where youth marginalisation has previously been a factor facilitating their mobilisation into violence, and what responsibility does this place on others to create spaces for youth participation?