December 9 will mark five years since the U.N. Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS). UNSCR 2250 was a milestone in the international community’s affirmation that youth play a significant role in realizing global peace and security. While youth have previously been depicted as victims, targets, or perpetrators of violent conflict, UNSCR 2250 represented a shift in discourse toward youth as peacebuilders and agents of change capable of preventing, mitigating, and resolving conflict in their communities.

Studies have demonstrated that including and partnering with young people helps foster a more sustainable peace. However, despite continued support from the U.N., and grassroots efforts to encourage inclusive representation of youth in decision making, there remain structural barriers that prevent youth from contributing to YPS on national, regional, and local levels. 

On December 8, USIP hosted a discussion with the co-chair of the Global Coalition on Youth, Peace, and Security and two youth peacebuilders as they reflected on the tangible progress that has been made on the YPS agenda since the passage of Resolution 2250, as well as the challenges to effective implementation of the agenda around the world. 

Continue the conversation on Twitter with #UNSCR2250.

Speakers

David Yang, welcoming remarks
Vice President, Applied Conflict Transformation Center, U.S. Institute of Peace

Lorena Gómez Ramírez  
USIP Generation Change Fellow; USIP Youth Advisory Council Member 

Cécile Mazzacurati 
Head, Secretariat on Youth, Peace and Security, United Nations Population Fund; Co-chair, Global Coalition on Youth, Peace, and Security

Mridul Upadhyay 
USIP Generation Change Fellow; USIP Youth Advisory Council Member 

Rebecca Ebenezer-Abiola, moderator 
Program Officer, Curriculum and Training Design, U.S. Institute of Peace

Related Publications

A Livable Climate Needs Help From Youth; the U.S. Can Foster It

A Livable Climate Needs Help From Youth; the U.S. Can Foster It

Thursday, May 9, 2024

Humanity is at a tipping point. New data confirms 2023 as Earth’s hottest-ever recorded year. Increasing temperatures, rising seas and extreme weather are heightening tension over resources, damaging people’s health and livelihoods, and displacing millions. Young people have one of the largest stakes in climate decisions made today, for they face the lasting environmental consequences of climate change — and the consequent threats to peace and security. Yet youth remain mostly excluded from decision-making on climate. U.S. leadership, via three steps in particular, can bolster genuine youth leadership on climate that prioritizes the welfare of future generations.

Type: Analysis

EnvironmentYouth

Marco de Construcción de Paz Centrado en la Juventud

Marco de Construcción de Paz Centrado en la Juventud

Friday, May 3, 2024

El Marco de Construcción de Paz Centrado en la Juventud es una guía funcional que propone un enfoque factible para centrar a la juventud en intervenciones de construcción de paz. La guía pone en práctica el concepto de la participación de jóvenes, partiendo de principios básicos y pasando a guías prácticas y medidas de acción específicas para lograr una participación juvenil significativa en diferentes etapas de un proyecto de construcción de paz.

Type: Tools for Peacebuilding

Education & TrainingYouth

Peace Teachers Program

Peace Teachers Program

Friday, December 1, 2023

The U.S. Institute of Peace’s (USIP) Peace Teachers Program is rooted in the conviction that educators can be pivotal in bringing themes of global conflict and peace into their classrooms, schools, and communities.

Type: Fact Sheet

Education & TrainingYouth

Teaching Peace: Nelson Mandela’s Story in a World of Conflicts

Teaching Peace: Nelson Mandela’s Story in a World of Conflicts

Thursday, November 30, 2023

A world reeling from the brutal horrors of our current wars will next week mark (or perhaps overlook) the 10th anniversary of the death of a peacemaking icon: South Africa’s liberation leader and former president, Nelson Mandela. Amid continued or escalated wars — Israel-Gaza, Ukraine-Russia, Sudan, Yemen, Afghanistan and others — USIP this month hosted Georgia’s senator, the Reverend Raphael Warnock, in a discussion of Mandela’s legacy and immediate relevance. Another Georgian, Decatur High School history teacher Kristen Embry, introduced Warnock. She spoke about Mandela and her own mission of teaching history and peacebuilding to American students in the 2020s.

Type: Analysis

Education & TrainingYouth

View All Publications