All in a Generation: Stopping Conflict, Building Peace, and Saving the Environment

Sep 24, 2017 | Anuj Krishnamurthy
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Today, world leaders gathered in New York for the United Nations General Assembly will celebrate the International Day of Peace, observed annually since 1981. This year’s Peace Day is centered on the theme of togetherness, and the importance of securing safety and dignity for all people – including youth. By all accounts, young people are critical to the success of peacebuilding efforts, and the dignitaries at the United Nations would do well to consider how empowered youth can make meaningful contributions to the fields of governance and development. Already, young people around the world are being called upon to protect natural resources, facilitate transboundary dialogue, and resist injustice. And as new threats to human security – including climate change and environmental degradation – emerge, harnessing the full potential of youth will prove essential to initiating a new chapter of sustainable peace. Deprived of educational or economic prospects and barred from political participation in post-conflict settings, young people are more likely to succumb to feelings of isolation and be more vulnerable to the recruiting efforts of insurgent groups. But their well-being, health, and prosperity are all indispensable to the viability of countries transitioning from violence, as the United Nations Security Council declared in Resolution 2250. In fragile, fractured societies, youth generally constitute a substantial portion of the population, possess a strong command of social media, and tend to be more idealistic and open to change – advantages that can all be leveraged extensively to support de-escalation and reconciliation in the aftermath of conflict.