The youth, peace and security agenda is relatively new for many parts of Africa, where young people are often absent from institutions and leadership positions that have a major impact on their lives. Several of the African Union’s youth ambassadors explore how the recent U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit offers a chance to build partnerships — especially at the local level — that promote youth-led peacebuilding efforts, as well as how African countries can draw on U.S. experience in addressing some of the major societal challenges facing African youth, such as violent extremism, unemployment and access to services like education and health care.

Related Publications

The Latest @ USIP: Where Do Palestinians Stand?

The Latest @ USIP: Where Do Palestinians Stand?

Thursday, June 1, 2023

By: Caroline Dibble;  Obada Shtaya

Obada Shtaya, director of advancement at Zimam, discusses the research on Palestinian attitudes toward politics, identity, occupation and governance, as well as potential opportunities to engage youth in peacebuilding.

Type: Blog

Peace ProcessesYouth

Youth-Centered Peacebuilding Framework

Youth-Centered Peacebuilding Framework

Wednesday, May 3, 2023

By: Rebecca Ebenezer-Abiola

The Youth-Centered Peacebuilding Framework is a functional guide that proposes an actionable approach for the centering of youth in peacebuilding interventions. The guide operationalizes the concept of youth participation, starting from core principles and moving to practical guidance and specific action steps for meaningful youth engagement at different stages of a peacebuilding project. 

Type: Tools for Peacebuilding

Education & TrainingYouth

Amid Sudan’s Chaos, Youth Groups Work for Peace

Amid Sudan’s Chaos, Youth Groups Work for Peace

Tuesday, May 2, 2023

By: Rachel Palermo;   Paula Porras Reyes

Amid Sudan’s battle between security forces loyal to rival generals, young civil society leaders are working to stem the violence. These leaders are part of grassroots youth networks that have been central to Sudan’s five-year-old citizens’ movement for a transition from military rule to democratic civilian governance. Against the current violence, youth-led efforts are combating misinformation, providing humanitarian aid and organizing crowdfunding to secure food and medicine. As the international community presses combatants to end the conflict and safeguard civilians, it is crucial that they also support the youth-led civil society initiatives to stop the violence and address its causes.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Youth

Youth, Identity, and the Post-Coup Experience in Myanmar

Youth, Identity, and the Post-Coup Experience in Myanmar

Monday, March 6, 2023

By: Isabel Chew;  Jangai Jap

One of the biggest challenges facing Myanmar today is its lack of a cohesive national identity. Its colonial legacy and half a century of authoritarian rule has reified group divisions and hardened societal cleavages, leading to negative, and sometimes outright hostile, relations between different groups. Against this background, the authors discuss how the Myanmar youth perceive their social identity, in particular national identity, and how they conceptualize notions of citizenship within the Myanmar context, as well as the implications of the coup and the post-coup experience for the youth’s perceptions of social identity and interethnic relations in Myanmar.

Type: Discussion Paper

Youth

View All Publications