United network of young peacebuilders (UNOY) 2022-2025

The annual review for 2022, entitled Peace as Young People Lead It provides a good narrative of advances and challenges facing young peacebuilders within the network of UNOY Peacebuilders. As in previous years, the report is divided in two sections. The Impact Report presents progress under each of the five goals, while the Network Report describes member organisations work in the six different regions with achievements, thematic coverage, raised challenges and expressed needs. The report mentions how the network reached almost 10 million people through its 120 members in 65 countries during 2022. To empower young peacebuilders, 15 resources were published with 4600 downloads, 236 people took part in capacity development programmes, and subgrants were provided. UNOY members took part in national, regional and global events, including two landmark conferences for furthering YPS implementation: the High Level Global Conference on Youth Inclusive Peace Processes, and the Meaningful Implementation of National Commitments on Youth, Peace and Security. Furthermore, four UNOY initiatives were mentioned as positive examples of YPS work in the UN Secretary Generals second report on YPS in March 2022. In terms of members thematic coverage, 56 % reported working on civic action and community building, 50 % on peace education and/or gender equality, and 39 % on peace processes and/or reconciliation initiatives. Change goal 1: We are protected A protection peer group was created and the protection protocol implemented in support of members facing protection issues, which was reported by 27 % of the members, seeing an increase from 21 % in 2021. Activities are divided into three sub-headings: Supporting members experiencing protection crisis; Building members resilience to protection crisis; and Advocating for the protection of young people in civic spaces. On-line and in-person training sessions were organised in the MENA region to build resilience of members to protection crisis. Together with Search for Common Ground, joint protection advocacy campaigns and discussion sessions were created within the Youth Excel Consortium. A prevention component was included in the Protection Protocol for members and three Protection blog posts focused on inclusion and protection of gender and sexual minorities, tackling ageism as a bystander, and digital hygiene practices. With the developments in Afghanistan, seven peer support group sessions were held online with the support of an experienced peace psychologist for Afghan members of UNOY. In Iraq, the UNOY member South Youth Organisation worked on advocacy to include protection of women working in private agencies in the national labour law. Change goal 2: We are resourced This goal aims to strengthen network members in terms of skills, knowledge and funds to carry out their peacebuilding activities. Through the UNOY Pool of Trainers, capacity development programmes reached 236 people on topics such as financial sustainability, protection and Gender Transformative Approaches, 15 new resources were published and downloaded 4600 times, and small grants were made available. Between April and June 2022, specific focus was placed on European members through the Youth Promoting Peaceful and Cohesive Societies in Europe capacity building programme aimed at supporting young peacebuilders in tackling harmful negative narratives. This also resulted in the Young Peacebuilders Guide to Tackling Harmful Narratives guide. In September, a workshop was co-organized with the OSCE titled Exploring localization of YPS in the Western Balkans. Building further on tackling harmful narratives, prejudice and polarisation, the UNAOC fifth edition of its Young Peacebuilders Programme was launched in Latin America and the Caribbean. Among the published resources, consisting of toolkits, guidelines, reports, research papers and checklists, the Youth4Peace Training Toolkits, UNSCR 2250 & Beyond: A Youth Toolkit and Translating Youth, Peace and Security into Practice: A Guide to Building Coalitions were the most used. Social media platforms reached more than 700,000 people and 3,700 listened to the Peace Corner Podcast published together with the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) and the Civil Society Platform for Peacebuilding and Statebuilding (CSPPS). Access to sustainable funding continues to be the most common need (85%) expressed by members. UNOY advocated for sustainable resources for young peacebuilders among others through the Financing Taskforce of the Global Coalition on Youth, Peace and Security and on thematic sessions at the High-Level Global Conference on Youth Inclusive Peace Processes. Joint advocacy among others led to USAID committing to increase funding towards local organisations and to promote local leadership and knowledge. Small-scale subgrants were provides as a follow-up to capacity development programmes to support members in the implementation of their learnings in their organisations or communities. Change goal 3: We are meaningful participants With the aim to transform power structures that exclude young people from decision-making and build sustainable spaces for young people to shape decisions that affect them, this goal is achieved by: shaping the YPS agenda at the global, national and local levels; bringing youth perspectives to wider peace and security conversations; and strengthening the youth-led evidence base for YPS. At a global level, UNOY contributed to the development of the UN Secretary Generals second report on YPS where four different UNOY initiatives were mentioned as positive examples of work in the YPS field. UNOY also continued to co-chair the Global Coalition on YPS and was part in establishing a new working group on Climate as focus on climate change as a serious risk-multiplier has been increasing. In January 2022, UNOY co-organised the online High-Level Global Conference on Youth-Inclusive Peace Processes, co-hosted by the Governments of the State of Qatar, Finland, and Colombia. The conference led to several commitments by governmental and intergovernmental stakeholders, which further have materialized in the adoption of National Action Plans on YPS, among others in the DRC and Philippines through the support from UNOY members. Coordination and advocacy at national and regional levels have also been undertaken through the Youth Advocacy Teams in Africa and Asia. Awareness raising initiatives were organised to strengthen implementation efforts, among others with the AU Youth Envoy and AU Youth for Peace Ambassadors. UNOY also provided input to the EU Coalition on YPS in crating the Youth Action Plan by the European External Action Service. More than 20% of UNOY members represented the network in various speaking engagements in an effort to bring youth perspectives to wider peace and security conversations. Occasions include the UN General Assembly, the Peacebuilding Commission, the ECOSOC Youth Forum, the World Humanitarian Action Forum in Turkey, the CSPPS, as well as regional workshops, seminars and summits. The CSPPS meeting resulted in the creation of the Berlin Statement: Safeguarding Peace, Shifting Priorities. Despite the inclusion of young peacebuilders in these events, members continue to experience tokenism and ageism, thus re-emphasizing the need to remind organisers to ensure meaningful youth-participation. The UNOY Check-list for meaningful youth engagement is well-placed in this regard, with 1500 downloads during 2022 (see change goal 4 below). Among the research and reports produced are a baseline study on YPS in Nigeria and Cameroon, aiming at strengthening ongoing efforts to nationalise the YPS agenda; the publication of the Borderlands Youth Forum report Youth in the Peripheries: Extending the Evidence on Youth Contributions to Peace in the Great Lakes Region, among others used as a reference in the ongoing process to develop a YPS strategy in Burundi; and policy briefs on addressing violent and extremist narratives in South Asia through the ALLY: Amplifying Leadership of Local Youth initiative. In addition, UNOYs own Youth Peace and Security Research Network worked on a second issue of its Journal for publication in 2023. Change goal 4: We are equal partners This goal aims at promoting meaningful youth engagement among non-youth stakeholders and fostering intergenerational partnerships for YPS. As a direct result from the High-Level Conference on Youth Inclusive Peace Processes mentioned above, UNOY co-organised a series of Meaningful Implementation of National Commitments on YPS workshops for governments, representatives of the AU and OSCE. The workshops concluded with the launch of a Community of Practice to provide a platform for dialogue and collaboration among stakeholders to guide the implementation of NAPs and national strategies on YPS. A training session on Meaningful Youth Engagement was also provided for USAID staff in June 2022. Through IREX, whose Youth Excel Consortium includes five youth-led partners as well as global partners to empower young people, the UNOY Checklist for Meaningful Youth Engagement was used to develop a practical tool for USAID staff, Youth Champions and young leaders on Meaningful and Inclusive Youth Engagement in the Program Cycle. Other initiatives by UNOY members include promoting interfaith dialogue in Pakistan, and the establishment of a Local Youth Council in Thessaloniki, Greece through EU projects. Network report Out of the 120 organisations working across 65 countries, 98% are young people (over 29,000 people) and 97% of these work on a voluntary basis, showing the motivation and commitment in youth-led peacebuilding. Gender equality has increased with 80% reporting mixed leadership and 15% being fully led by women (3% fully led by men) in 2022 which is a significant increase from 2019 when 47% reported mixed leadership and 17% reported being fully led by men. The most common themes addressed by members in 2022 were civic action and community building; gender equality; and peace education; peace processes and/or reconciliation initiatives. Members reporting on climate and environmental action increased to 27 members, which is 5 more than in 2021. Among the challenges raised, access to funding for young people remains the highest, with the average budget of members having decreased over time since 2018. However, the average expense in 2022 (65,735 USD) is slightly higher than that in 2021 (58,719 USD). Socio-economic constraints (lack of education, unemployment and poverty), along with shrinking space (protection issues, abuse of HR, denied participation) are the next highest challenges reported in 2022.

Through a participatory and co-owned process, UNOY agreed on a new Strategic Plan for 2021-2025 (Annex 1). With the aim to allow more young people to be more united and better connected, steering social progress, inspiring political transformations, and innovating social justice activism, the Strategy includes five goals to remove structural barriers to meaningful youth participation in peace and security: 1. We are protected: Young peacebuilders rights to civic engagement for peace are protected. By mobilising people and resources within the UNOY community, while securing a wider community of defenders; developing a protection-specific network for young peacebuilders and an emergency response mechanism; strengthening our collective advocacy and bringing a Youth4Peace voice to human rights spaces; and empowering young people to identify and navigate protection challenges and shrinking civic space through targeted capacity development on security risk management, advocacy, and knowledge transfer. 2. We are resourced: Young peacebuilders are sustainably resourced. By creating a new culture of engagement with young peacebuilders; increasing the capacities and financial resources available to UNOY members, focusing on what they need to continue building peace in a changing world; advocating for a youth-led funding agenda in relevant alliances and platforms where decisions on funding are made, and leading by example in developing our own diligent and empowering frameworks; and creating and sustaining communities of learning for young peacebuilders, where methodologies and networks for collective empowerment can thrive in designing strategies to comprehensively resource youth. 3. We are participants: Young people meaningfully participate in policies and decisions on peace and security. By advocating for, supporting, and monitoring the national, regional, and global implementation of the YPS agenda; providing youth leadership to global platforms where decisions on peace and security are shaped; reshaping the discourse and mindset about young people, as the sowers and reapers of positive change; and equipping young peacebuilders with the tools they need to advocate for youth participation and peace. 4. We are equal partners: Youth and non-youth peace and security stakeholders actively work together in strong intergenerational partnerships. By empowering youth and non-youth to engage equitably with each other, challenge power imbalances, and embrace a culture of meaningful youth participation; and supporting our partners in their commitments to actively and meaningfully engage young people in peacebuilding, while holding them accountable to do so. 5. We are creative changemakers: Young people lead creative change for peace. By watering the roots of creativity, so that young people have the space to innovate, create and act; designing spaces for peer exchange and developing capacities of our young changemakers to lead creative thinking and action for peace; instilling confidence in them by encouraging and expanding their approaches; and advocating for more traditional peacebuilders to endorse the power of young peoples creative contributions to peace processes. To achieve these goals, UNOY as a network summarizes a separate change goal under Groundworks for Peace: Our network of grassroots youth-led organisations and International Secretariat are inclusive and sustainable. The aim is to: - Ensure that UNOY members have ownership over the network and feel empowered by this community of young peacebuilders; - Be an example of decentralised, sustainable, and inclusive governance in the field of peace and security, and enable meaningful youth participation throughout our structures. The goals are summarized under UNOYs theory of change: If in five years, five change goals have been reached, so that we can say: We and the civic space around us are protected; We are sustainably resourced; We are meaningful participants; We are equal partners; We are creative changemakers; And if UNOY is a strong decentralised network of youth-led peace organisations coordinated by a sustainable International Secretariat (Groundworks for Peace); Through interventions in four action areas: capacity development of youth and non-youth, advocacy strategies for influencing minds, cultures and policies, and network and organisational development for UNOY structures; Then we are closer to a world free from violence where young people have the power to transform conflict everywhere, where youth participation is real and meaningful, and where young people actively partner for peace without fear or threat. Because five key barriers to meaningful youth participation, identified in the field and by UNOY members as central challenges for them and for youth at large have been challenged. These barriers are: - Threats to civic space for young peacebuilders; - Under-resourcing of their efforts; - Lack of meaningful youth participation; - Unequal engagement of youth as partners; - Disregard of creative youth approaches