The Global Forum on Youth, Peace and Security was hosted on the 21st and 22nd of August 2015 by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The Forum, marked a turning point in recognizing young people’s role for peacebuilding through a multi-level, intergenerational conversation that defined a new international agenda on youth, peace and security. For the first gathering of this kind, young people, youth-led organizations, non-governmental organizations, governments and UN entities came together to agree on a common vision and roadmap to partner with young people in preventing conflict, countering violent extremism and building lasting peace. The Global Forum was attended by nearly 600 participants, including 200 young people representing 80 nationalities, and culminated in the adoption of the Amman Youth Declaration.
About
What is the Global Forum on Youth, Peace and Security?
The Global Forum is a turning point towards a new international agenda on youth, peace and security. It stems from the themes debated at the Security Council Ministerial Debate on the Role of Youth in Countering Violent Extremism and Promoting Peace, organized by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan during its presidency of the Security Council, on 23 April 2015. The forum will build on the on-going efforts by a multiplicity of actors to decisively step-up global attention to young people’s contribution to peace and chart a common agenda. For the first gathering of this kind, young people, youth-led organizations, non-governmental organizations, governments and UN entities will come together to agree on a common vision and roadmap to partner with young people in preventing conflict, countering violent extremism and building lasting peace. The Global Forum will be hosted by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan under the Patronage of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, and co-organized by the United Nations represented, on behalf of the Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development (IANYD), by Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, Peacebuilding Support Office, UNFPA and UNDP, in partnership with Search for Common Ground and the United Network of Young Peacebuilders.
Why does this matter?
Today’s generation of young people (10-24 year old), at 1.8 billion, is the largest the world has ever known. The growth in youth population is particularly prominent in developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and in the Arab States. While a predominantly young population offers a country an unprecedented opportunity for innovation, development and economic growth, today’s young people live with a growing threat and reality of violence and armed conflict. While the numbers of interstate and civil wars have declined in the last quarter of a century, wars are still waged and many more countries are still grappling with multiple and often interlinked and cyclical forms of violence – terrorism, political violence, criminal gangs, organized crime, etc. Unfortunately, young people are often solely portrayed as the perpetrators of this violence when, in reality, the vast majority of young people play active and valuable roles as agents of positive and constructive change. Young men’s and young women’s participation in peacebuilding is a largely untapped resource. Their actual contribution and further potential should be valued, recognised, and supported by all actors, including the international community, as a key to durable and inclusive peace, stability and economic prosperity. Youth-led interventions and youth-engaging discussions, like the Global Forum on Youth, Peace and Security, aim to counter extremists’ narratives, promote nonviolent conflict resolution and build lasting peace. For more information, please read the Concept Note.
Organising Partners
The Global Forum was hosted by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan under the Patronage of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, and co-organized by the United Nations represented, on behalf of the Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development (IANYD), by the Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, the Peacebuilding Support Office, UNFPA and UNDP, in partnership with Search for Common Ground and the United Network of Young Peacebuilders.
