Youth Leadership and Advocacy for Peacebuilding

Please note this course is designed for young people (19-29 years old)
 

Over the past decades, it has become clear that young people are increasingly playing a major role in political affairs, particularly in societies in transition. In armed conflicts, youth are not only the major victims but are often the major protagonists of violence. In other situations, youth are organizing not only to respond to events but to play a major role within them. Youth associations and NGOs often work to influence policy makers to address the issues that are affecting their generation. In each country, this is a manifestation of a global movement of young people to take on more significant leadership roles in their communities and nation. In this highly interactive course, we will explore the role of young people in decision making processes. We will examine the diverse roles that young people play in advancing societies, shaping culture, and influencing policy. The course is designed primarily for young leaders (up to 29 years old), supporting them to carve out roles within their communities and building their skills to be effective advocates and leaders in their own communities.

The overall goal of this course is for youth participants to develop the necessary knowledge, theoretical frameworks, skills, and tools to establish themselves as effective leaders of their generation.

The specific objectives are:

• To create space for youth leaders to reflect on their current role in the society and to envision what role they would like to play;

• To strengthen the leadership skills of participants;

• To equip participants with the tools to do situation and policy analysis and define specific youth-led interventions;

and

• To build the skills of youth leaders in non-adversarial advocacy strategies.