24 March 2021
This roundtable with young peacebuilders focused on the work of the UN at the country level to strengthen youth participation and operationalise the YPS agenda and how these efforts could be further enhanced.
Key takeaways:
- Many young people feel that the UN is not accessible to them and their needs. Some do not understand what the UN really does or how it could be a resource to them in their work. Meaningful communication channels between the UN and youth should be created to allow young people to more easily access UN staff at the country level and provide input to project design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
- Innovative solutions that reach out to youth in their own spaces, including outreach through schools and camps, should be prioritised. Young people should be engaged in designing outreach strategies, as they know how to communicate with youth through their own channels, including those who are most marginalised.
- The UN has a role to play in raising awareness on YPS (and breaking it down into its five pillars) at the national level, particularly among national policymakers. There is also a need to shift traditional power structures by facilitating equal and meaningful conversations between youth, governments and national stakeholders, in which youth voices are at the centre, and connecting informal with formal processes.