The Youth Peace Mediator’s Mentoring Programme, a one-year-long capacity-building project implemented by Finland and South Africa's Foreign Ministries gathers young peacebuilders from around the world to learn, discuss and be mentored by experienced peace mediators and practitioners. Interpeace will serve as the Secretariat for this programme. The aim is to build a network of young peace mediators and provide them with practical tools for future use in the wider field of conflict resolution, peace negotiation and mediation. The project is implemented through in-person workshops in South Africa and Finland, study visits to the headquarters of the UN and the AU, as well as online sessions to build the participants’ capacity in specific thematic areas in the field of peace mediation.

The joint programme provides an opportunity to develop a peace mediation partnership between Finland and South Africa and promote resolution UNSC 2250 on Youth Peace and Security. It also adds to the African Agenda 2063 that focusses on five priority areas for the youth including governance, peace, and security.

The fifteen selected participants include representatives from South Africa, Finland, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Qatar, South Sudan, Türkiye, and Ukraine. An important criterion in selecting the other participants was a broad geographical representation.