Global Coalition on Youth, Peace and Security

The Working Group on Youth and Peacebuilding (WG-YPB) was established in 2012 as part of the broader UN Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development (IANYD). The WG-YPB is co-chaired by United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO), the United Network of Youth Peacebuilders (UNOY) and Search for Common Ground (SFCG) and brings together a wide constituency of civil society organizations, including youth-led and youth-focused organizations, UN entities, donors, academia and inter-governmental bodies. This WG-YPB provides overall guidance and support to the growing community of practice on youth, peace and security (YPS) and helps coordinate ways to translate SCR 2250 policy into practice; improve and amplify evidence-based practice; support and advocate for young people’s meaningful participation in peace and security efforts globally and locally.

The Working Group developed the Guiding Principles on Young People’s Participation in Peacebuilding, which defined nine overarching principles to ensure meaningful involvement of young people in building peace. The Guiding Principles helped shift policy discussions towards the recognition of young people’s role for building peace and paved the wa​y for the Global Forum on Youth, Peace and Security and the adoption of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2250 in December 2015. 

The working group was renamed to the Global Coalition on Youth, Peace and Security after the launch of The Missing Peace: Independent Progress Study on Youth, Peace and Security, mandated by Security Council Resolution 2250 (2015), following the recommendation to establish YPS coalitions to ensure “a collective impact on YPS at local, national, regional and global levels”. For more information, please see the flyer on the Global Coalition on Youth, Peace and Security and the guide to GCYPS engagement on the Youth4Peace Platform.

Please contact the co-chairs, if your organization wants to get more involved: