Young Peacebuilders in Latin America and the Caribbean

Focusing on the region of Latin America and the Caribbean, the fifth, sixth and seventh editions of the UNAOC Young Peacebuilders programme were launched in 2022, 2023 and 2024, respectively; with the aim of supporting young civil society leaders in gaining competencies to address negative stereotypes, prejudice and polarization (important drivers of violent extremism), while bringing visibility to their actions and projects in their communities towards the promotion of diversity and intercultural/interfaith dialogue.

With the financial support of Agencia Extremeña de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AEXCID), and implemented in collaboration with the United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY), Young Peacebuilders is an example of a meaningful partnership that strengthens the groundbreaking UN Security Council Resolutions 2250, 2419 and 2535 on Youth, Peace and Security which recognize that “young people play an important and positive role in the maintenance and promotion of international peace and security”.

THE PARTICIPANTS

For each of the three editions, UNAOC selected, through a competitive call for applications, 20 young women and men between 18 to 25 to participate in the programme. The group, balanced in terms of gender and reflecting diverse religious and cultural backgrounds, came from 23 different countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, namely: Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Saint Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

THE PROGRAMME

The programme uses blended curriculum and consists out of four phases of learning, to maximize the outcomes that can be achieved through a single one-week face-to-face training and encouraging participants to apply the lessons learned:

Phase 1: Online Engagement

An online platform is available for exchange and learning among participants, supporting participants to come better prepared for the workshop: the network has started forming and collaborating, and the group had basic common references for some key terms and concepts.

Participants are encouraged to start getting to know each other and the programme team in order to foster a positive learning environment and create linkages among the group before meeting in person. They are presented with content and are also challenged to contribute to this content and its understanding by sharing their own experience and exchanging ideas with each other. The participant-friendly methodology keeps participants motivated and engaged and connects the content to their own life and experience.

Phase 2: Face-to-face Workshop

The overall aim of the workshop is to consolidate and leverage the learning from the online phase of the programme and use it as a basis for deepening reflection and skills acquisition in the field of peacebuilding, intercultural dialogue and conflict transformation.

Methodology: Experiential learning, using games and interactive methods as a basis to introduce the topics. Each activity is debriefed to stimulate reflection and encourage participants to make sense of the experience, introduce or review concepts, tools and frameworks, and draw conclusions to inform future action.

Main outcomes: Consolidation of the network and creation of personal action plans in which participants outlined specific actions they would take in the following months. Participants are empowered to translate the learning into specific actions that can benefit their organizations and advance intercultural dialogue and peacebuilding in their communities, thus increasing their contribution as agents of peace.

The workshops of the fifth and sixth editions were held in Mérida, Spain on October 3-8, 2022 and July 3-7, 2023, respectively, with a forthcoming workshop for the seventh edition scheduled to take place in Cáceres, Spain in June 2024.

Phase 3: Applied Learning

Each participant of the programme developed a personal Action Plan in Mérida, and in the months following the workshop, they were challenged to make it come to life. Participants were encouraged to reinforce and integrate the learning through concrete practice, and to multiply the messages and benefits of their intercultural learning experience while strengthening their leadership potential as agents of social change in efforts to build and sustain peace in their communities.

Phase 4: Results-sharing symposium

The final symposium aims to bring visibility to the initiatives, actions, and projects initiated by young people towards building peace and promoting diversity and mutual understanding. In addition, the event is designed to demonstrate the enhanced capacities and skills gained by youth and their respective organizations through the peacebuilding training; as well as their impact on addressing issues of peace and security and the prevention of violent extremism.

During the symposium, the UNAOC Young Peacebuilders have the opportunity to share their experiences, lessons learned, achievements and recommendations with relevant stakeholders such as government, private sector, UN staff, policymakers, civil society, academia, or media.

The symposium of the fifth and sixth editions of the UNAOC Young Peacebuilders programme were held in Fez (Morocco) and Córdoba (Spain), respectively. The date and location for the symposium of the seventh edition cohort will be announced soon.