On 09 December, 2015, the Security Council unanimously adopted its first ever resolution on Youth, Peace and Security (UNSCR 2250), thereby recognizing the importance of the positive contributions which young people are making to the maintenance and promotion of international peace and security. Furthermore, it affirmed the important role that youth need to assume in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and called for the engagement of youth as partners and leaders at all levels of decisionmaking and in peacebuilding processes. While Resolution 2250 has thus set the frame for a wider debate on this topic, it does not provide concrete guidance on effective responses at local, national, regional and international levels. “The Missing Peace: Independent Progress Study on Youth, Peace and Security”, which will be presented in the Open Debate of the Security Council on 23 April 2018, for the first time formulates practical guidance for the implementation of Resolution 2250.
The progress study urges the international community to “invest in the capacities, agency and leadership of young people”. The way forward is thus very clear: we need to strengthen the confidence and capacities of young leaders who can generate solutions aligned with their values, while addressing root causes and systemic challenges. It has thus already become clear that education, training and capacity building of both youth and their counterparts at local, national and regional levels are essential to
translate Resolution 2250 from the halls of the United Nations to policy makers, actors and changeagents at the ground level.
In line with this priority, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR); the UN Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) and Columbia University’s Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict and Complexity (AC4) will host an open dialogue on channeling into action the key conclusions of the Progress Study through local and global capacity building.