Interpeace is committed to advancing the inclusive and meaningful participation of young people as rights-holders and political actors in policymaking and governance processes that affect their lives and communities. No group has a deeper stake in the long-term future of peaceful societies than young people—nor more creativity, and determination to shape that future.
Globally, over 600 million young people live in fragile and conflict-affected settings, where they often face systemic barriers such as exposure to violence, forced recruitment, displacement, and the loss of education and livelihoods. These challenges not only threaten their well-being but also undermine broader societal stability. Despite these adversities—and persistent stereotypes that cast young men as threats and young women as passive victims— young women and men have demonstrated their capacity to make a positive contribution to building peace, preventing violence, and mediating conflict.
Across the globe, young people often provide the leadership in social movements for change: on the front lines in the existential fight for climate justice; in arms control and anti-war movements; through struggles for human security, and in inclusive, legitimate, and accessible governance; in the quest for justice and accountability (whether through traditional, formal, or transitional justice measures); in the struggle against systemic racism; and in the quest to address social and economic inequality. In promoting the Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) agenda, Interpeace seeks to elevate the voice, agency, and leadership of young people, moving the agenda from policy rhetoric to implementable actions. Youth engagement must go beyond participation in tokenistic ‘consultative fora’ to ensure direct involvement in the design, implementation, and evaluation of peacebuilding work, particularly at the country level, where young people are too often excluded from shaping the very policies and institutional processes that impact their lives and communities.
Young people have consistently resisted efforts to ‘ghettoise’ youth participation, asserting that their contributions must extend beyond designated ‘youth’ or ‘sports’ organisations. Their diverse interests and engagements must be acknowledged and accommodated. Young people are active in human rights organisations, women’s movements, academic institutions, trade unions, civic groups, law enforcement, and the communities being policed, among many others. Young people have also fervently expressed that every Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) directly affects them, underscoring the heterogeneity of young people and the importance of recognising their complex, intersectional roles in society.
In recognition of this, Interpeace is proud to create this platform to amplify the voices and leadership of young people in areas often overlooked by mainstream national and international policymakers but of critical importance to youth themselves. This online portal provides a dedicated space for youth-led, youth-authored, and youth-informed policy interventions, reflections, and advocacy. Rather than merely responding to pre-existing policy priorities, the portal aims to provide young contributors with a platform to shape the policy agenda—identifying blind spots, reframing dominant narratives, and advancing innovative policy interventions on dimensions frequently neglected in mainstream peace and security discourses.
With the support of Ireland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Interpeace launched the Outside the Box policy brief series in 2021. Each brief was authored by young peacebuilders, scholars, or practitioners or developed through participatory research (PAR) and consultations with young people. Collectively, the briefs address critical policy and practice gaps in the evolution and implementation of the YPS agenda. While these briefs do not necessarily reflect the views of Interpeace, the organisation is proud to serve as a convener and
enabler, providing space for uncensored youth-led analysis that is often excluded from traditional policy discourses.
This work builds on the expansive global consultations undertaken for the original YPS Progress Study, The Missing Peace, and aims to ensure inclusive participation and meaningful engagement in:
● The review of the implementation of the YPS agenda and the development of the 2ndProgress Study;
● The integration of youth-centred perspectives into the 2025 UN Peacebuilding Architecture Review (PBAR);
● The advancement of YPS-specific dimensions within the Pact for the Future, the Declaration on Future Generations, and other relevant global policy processes.
Through this platform and our broader policy and programmatic engagements, Interpeace continues to collaborate with leading youth policy thinkers and practitioners in advancing a peace and security agenda that is inclusive, generationally just, and grounded in the lived experiences of young people.