In October 2019, Chile experienced widespread protests triggered by an increase in subway fares. What started as student-led fare evasion quickly grew into a national movement demanding a new social contract and addressing broader discontent with Chile’s democratic transition. This Policy Brief examines youth participation in these protests and the subsequent constitution-making process, drawing on interviews with four young Chileans who were actively involved.  The Brief highlights the importance of a youth-centred approach to constitutional change, detailing both the opportunities and challenges faced by young people as well as their perception of the process's relevance in addressing the legacy of authoritarianism and shaping Chile’s democratic future. The paper emphasises that meaningful youth engagement involves more than just representation; it requires substantial influence throughout the process. The paper also explores how a youth-centred approach can enhance democratic participation and constitutional transformations.

This policy brief provides both reflections and recommendations on the United Nations Youth Delegate Programme, from the perspective of a former UN Youth Delegate for Ireland. While regarded as one of the strongest pathways for youth representation to the UN, the Youth Delegate programme is not without flaws. As with many other avenues, key issues include disparities in regional and cultural representation, a lack of funding and widespread tokenism, and limited institutional acknowledgement. UN Member States, along with UN agencies and bodies, must urgently begin to implement their own commitments in relation to young people, recognising them as compulsory partners and key stakeholders in our collective future, in line with intergenerational equity and solidarity.

This policy brief, drawing on available data and interviews with youth peacebuilders from six country cases, assesses youth participation in the relatively early national implementation phases of the Global YPS agenda. The brief addresses the role of young women and men in the design, implementation, and evaluation of national action plans and national YPS coalitions, and provides insight and analysis on participation, leadership, and ownership of young people in YPS implementation efforts. The brief notes that the efforts to include young people in the development of a YPS policy have not translated into meaningful and comprehensive youth involvement in the implementation of YPS policy at the national level and includes recommendations for correcting an imbalance which threatens to undermine the core objectives of the YPS agenda.

This policy brief presents an analysis of the dangers and challenges posed by the “securitization” of the YPS agenda, addressing both hard counter-terrorism approaches that target youth in the name of countering violent extremism (CVE), and the increasingly pervasive influence of ‘softer’ securitization through the guise of preventing violent extremism (PVE). It draws attention to the fact that instead of cultivating and investing in the role of young peacebuilders, young women and men are still subject to forms of ‘policy panic’ which result in them being endangered not only by terrorist organizations, but also by the counter-terrorist strategies of their own governments. This brief concludes with recommendations for how stakeholders supportive of the YPS agenda can confront the  securitization of young people, and strategize to protect the rights of young men and women at both the drafting and implementation stages of counterterrorism policies and programs.

This paper explores the key issue of mental health and psycho-social services (MHPSS), from a youth-specific perspective. Drawing on the assertions and recommendations of the YPS Progress Study, and coupled with the increasing attention to MHPSS within the sustaining peace agenda, this policy brief pays special attention to the role of youth-specific psycho-social services as a vital dimension of transformative youth resilience, essential to both addressing the consequences and prevention violent conflict.

This paper points to the gap (noted in the YPS Progress Study’s recommendations) on masculinity and masculine identities as part of the gendered approach to implementing the YPS agenda. This policy brief focuses attention on supporting the development of alternative and positive masculine identities. While the paper draws on lived experiences in Northern Ireland, it derives lessons and recommendations, captures stories, and offers a narrative with wider relevance for other contexts.