Announcement: 3rd Workshop on UN Youth, Peace & Security Agenda

Affirming the important role that the youths can play in prevent and resolution of conflicts in societies, the United Nations Security Council in 2015 adopted Resolution 2250, a global policy framework that examines how conflict affects young people’s life, what has to be done to lessen those consequences, and how youth may contribute significantly to the development of peaceful communities. The United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2250 includes five main pillars (participation, protection, prevention, partnership, disengagement, and reintegration) of building a youth, peace and security together.

Several positive developments have happened since the UNSCR 2250 was adopted, such as the release of Missing Peace, an independent progress report that was mandated by the resolution. Likewise, the UN Security Council has also adopted another Resolution (2419) in 2018 which puts an emphasis the inclusive representation of youth for conflict prevention and resolution, including in the negotiation and implementation of peace agreements, building on the recommendations of UNSCR 2250 and addressing a particular context of peace processes. The UNSCR 2419 specifically calls on relevantregional and sub-regional organizations to think about creating and carrying out youth-focused policies and programs andto encourage their positive engagement.

Two years later in 2020, the UN Security Council passed yet another resolution related to YPS: Resolution 2535, which highlights the importance of youth in minimizing and  changing conflict, establishing and preserving peace, and it calls on Member States to involve youth in peace and security-related decision-making processes.

Nepal’s context

Youths in Nepal make up 42.56 percent of the population, according to the national census of 2021. In the local governments, youths represent 42 percent and in House of Representatives, the youths make 25.66 percent. The need now is to translate demographic dividend to peace dividend. 

In relation to UNSCR 2250, Nepal’s National Youth Policy 2015 has suggested a number of strategic measures, including those related to youth empowerment and leadership development, engagement and mobilization, realizing young people involved in crime and violence, youth involvement in establishing sustainable peace and conflict resolution, and partnership.^[1]

The five pillars of UNSCR 2250 (participation, protection, prevention, partnership and disengagement and reintegration) can be taken as yardsticks to see where we stand in Nepal in terms of how youths are related to peace and security. In regard to participation, when it comes to building peace infrastructures, rolling out of decisions, facilitating dialogues related to peace, we see that youth participation is starkly missing. 

First workshop – Theme: General landscape

Given the need to bring the issues of YPS into the fold of policy-making processes and programs in both governmental and non-governmental circles, Nepal Forum for Restorative Justice (NFRJ) organized the first workshop on YPS on 14 December 2023 in Kathmandu. The workshop took dive into the status of YPS agenda in Nepal and tried to understand how different stakeholders are positioned in terms of the five pillars of the YPS agenda. A total of 40 participants (27 females, 14 male) representing various organizations attended the program and gave their inputs.

As the UNSCR 2250 has five main pillars, it was planned to focus each pillars gradually throughout these series of workshop. The first workshop was also critical in that it paved the needs to devise a national action plan for the YPS in Nepal. 

Second workshop – Theme: Participation

Meaningful participation of youth is needed in all phases of informal and formal peace, security and political transition processes from pre-negotiation of peace processes to implementation, including in national and local level decision making, constitution making, governance process and dialogues. Recognizing the young people being an integral factor in sustaining peace, NFRJ and National Youth Council (NYC) organized the second series of the workshop in collaboration on 25 January, 2024 in Kathmandu, with a particular focus on the first pillar of UNSCR 2250, i.e., Participation. The workshop was attended by 51 energetic (32 females and 19 male) participants representing various youth-led CSOs and government institutions, including vice chairperson of National Youth Council, Mr. Surendra Basnet who was the chief guest of the event.

Third workshop – Theme: Protection

NFRJ in collaboration with NYC is organizing the third series of workshop on YPS with a particular focus on the second pillar of Protection on 29 March 2024. The second pillar aims to create an environment that is inclusive, safe, enabling, and gender responsive. Ensuring the protection of young civilians’ lives and human rights and investigating and prosecuting those responsible for crimes perpetrated against them is what entails protection pertaining to the YPS agenda. Coordination, solid relationships, and a whole-of-mission attitude are necessary for the effective implementation of protection requirements. The Protection pillar reaffirms that states must respect and ensure the human rights of all individuals, including youth, within their territory and subject to their jurisdiction as provided for by relevant international law, and reaffirms that each state bears the primary responsibility to protect its populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity.

It is in this context that the third series of the YPS Agenda has been organized. In this workshop, NFRJ and NYC aim to explore aspects of protection for youths related to peacebuilding in Nepal. This will be done through an engaging conversation with relevant stakeholders-youths, government officials, non-government officials. 

The workshop is free with limited seats. Please fill the registration form below to confirm your participation. Registration link- YPS S-III

For more information, please contact:

Nepal Forum for Restorative Justice, Hadigaun-5, Kathmandu, Nepal

Email: nfrj@nepalrestorativejustice.org

Tel- +97714540587

^[1] According to the case study conducted by Search for Common Ground, the majority of youth asked about the protection of youth in Nepal do not feel safe or protected. Violence is frequently used by minority groups as a response to feelings of insecurity. People of hill origin and religious minorities (mainly Muslims) experience physical and economic insecurity in the Terai area, while ex-combatants nationwide experience insecurity and not protected as a result of their unstable financial status and fear of retaliation. Minority groups always fear that they may be attacked in any form (Case Study: Youth Consultations on Peace & Security in Nepal, Search for Common Ground, Nepal, 2017).