Youth-led peacebuilding is a transformative opportunity for investors to advance sustainable peace and global stability while achieving measurable social and economic returns. Young people aged 18 to 35—often disproportionately affected by conflict—bring creativity, energy and a deep understanding of the root causes of instability. Yet systemic barriers, including exclusion from decision-making, limited access to funding and persistent perceptions of youth as inexperienced, continue to undermine their ability to lead. Addressing these barriers is both an ethical imperative and a strategic investment in global resilience.
Investing in Youth for Peace: An Investors’ Guide to Supporting Youth-Led Peace provides a comprehensive roadmap for investors who are already investing in—or exploring opportunities to invest in—fragile and conflict-affected contexts, and who are seeking to better understand how to engage with youth peacebuilders. The guide highlights the unique contributions of young people in conflict-affected contexts and offers practical strategies for building meaningful and impactful partnerships that support youth-led peacebuilding.
The guide introduces the Youth Peace Finance (YPF) Principles, which build on the Peace Finance Impact Framework (PFIF) and the Peace Taxonomy developed by Finance for Peace (F4P), an initiative incubated by Interpeace. Developed as a youth-responsive lens to these existing frameworks, the YPF Principles, together with the Peace Taxonomy, provide a foundational framework for aligning investments with the priorities, needs and aspirations of youth peacebuilders. They translate key peace finance concepts, such as peace intentionality, inclusive processes and conflict sensitivity, into practical guidance for investors seeking to engage meaningfully with youth peacebuilders.
Developed through collaboration between Investing and Partnering with Youth for Peace (IPYP), hosted by the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, and Finance for Peace (F4P), the publication also includes case studies demonstrating how the Youth Peace Finance Principles and the Peace Taxonomy can be applied in practice. These examples showcase the diversity of approaches, contexts and outcomes associated with youth-led peacebuilding initiatives, offering valuable insights for investors and other stakeholders.
Key insights for investors:
- The strategic case for youth inclusion: Youth-led initiatives drive localised, innovative solutions that address the root causes of conflict and foster long-term societal resilience. Supporting these initiatives enables investors to reduce risk, enhance social impact and unlock new market opportunities.
- Tailored approaches and innovative financing: Flexible funding models and risk-sharing mechanisms allow aligning financial incentives with peacebuilding outcomes. These mechanisms, combined with capacity-building support, create a foundation for impactful and sustainable investments.
- Co-creation and equity: Youth are not merely beneficiaries but indispensable partners. Involving them in the design, implementation and evaluation of peacebuilding efforts ensures that investments are contextually relevant and widely supported.
- Addressing safety and structural barriers: Effective engagement includes mitigating risks faced by youth peacebuilders and dismantling systemic barriers that hinder their participation. This requires robust protection measures, inclusive policies and participatory governance.