Engaging the Potential of Youth as Peacebuilders in Africa
How USAID supports youth as partners in development, diplomacy, and global stability
Young changemakers around the world hold the potential to reduce violence and extremism in their lifetimes.
How the United States engages with these young changemakers and their networks could determine whether they view the United States as a legitimate long-term partner or look to other countries for support instead. Our approach to engaging this new generation is both cost-effective and can lead to long-term partners for peacebuilding in fragile regions.
These youth are using innovation to leverage development, influence diplomacy, and work with security forces to push back against Boko Haram in West Africa and Al Shabab in Somalia. Collectively, they work to de-radicalize prisons, reintegrate child soldiers, and increase the voices of young people in peace processes. They are examples of how USAID invests in youth leadership programs that support youth as active collaborators not just in our international development work, but our diplomatic and global stability efforts, as well.
Youth as Partners in Development
In 2015, the United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 2250 on youth, peace, and security advocating for a stronger role for youth in the peacebuilding process. In designing our youth strategies, USAID recognizes the unrealized potential of the largest generation in history in supporting conflict prevention.
Young leaders want to be engaged as partners in development — fighting disinformation and authoritarianism, addressing community COVID-19 needs, and innovating around violence prevention. Youth have shown they will take action with or without the support of other development stakeholders, but could be more effective in partnership with us.
The Carnegie Endowment’s Global Protest Tracker shows how the resurgence of protests — often led by students and young people against authoritarian governments — reached record highs in 2020. This trend will likely continue in 2021, as youth push back against corrupt and anti-democratic regimes and protest inefficient delivery of public services amidst the pandemic.
Young changemakers are also leading peacebuilding campaigns to “silence the guns in Africa,” “turn bullets into books in South Sudan,” and say “we are here,” joining dialogues on peacebuilding in numerous countries.
The Development Imperative for Engaging Youth
In Somalia, Ilwad Elman, a 2019 Nobel Prize Nominee and a USAID-supported 2014 Young African Leaders Initiative fellow, advocates for engaging youth in peace and security efforts to promote local peace and advance national security. However, violent groups disproportionately target young people ages 10 to 29 for recruitment — though the vast majority of youth in fragile environments do not join.
Youth groups, like those participating with Ilwad’s Elman Center, are working to change the narrative, framing youth not as victims and perpetrators, but as advocates and changemakers. Ilwad, the daughter of two human rights activists, is establishing innovative models for reintegrating child soldiers and advancing efforts on conflict mediation and de-radicalization with young people. Ilwad helped establish the first rape crisis center in Somalia ten years ago in response to the use of rape as a weapon of conflict. They have now established centers in nine regions.
USAID actively engages youth, such as those working with llwad, in community peacebuilding to improve outcomes and resiliencies for their fellow youth. By building their sense of agency, resilience, and cohesion, these positive approaches in turn increase the engagement of youth and reduce their susceptibility to extremism.
The Diplomacy of Youth in Peacebuilding
In Cameroon, Achaleke Christian Leke, a member of USAID’s YouthLead.org platform, has seen the impact of global policies and resolutions like UN Resolution 2250 on his work with gangs and youth involved in extremism.
“Young people are not waiting to be given a space to act. They are either forcing themselves into these spaces through legitimate processes, or creating their own spaces and now inviting stakeholders to join them.” — Achaleke
For example, rather than waiting for the government to create a space for dialogue, youth in Cameroon mobilized to create the National Youth Mediators Network and invited the government and other development stakeholders to join.
“We are on the front lines of violence each day in conflict zones, prisons, and even schools, ensuring that this and the next generation are committed to peace and not susceptible to violence. We can’t tolerate being left out of peace processes and development of national violence prevention plans,” said Achaleke.
In Defense of Young Changemakers
In order to ensure effective security cooperation, security and defense agencies need to change their understanding of youth engagement. When military forces see youth as targets or troublemakers, they minimize the potential to leverage youth contribution in peacebuilding. According to the young leaders involved, USAID and the United States Africa Command have explored how to improve training on engaging young peacebuilders, though much more can be done.
To build this institutional capacity of both security forces and public services, the United States is working with emerging leaders, who are often more open to accountability and transparency than entrenched elites. For example, engaged young leaders have recently been working side by side with civil defense to respond to disasters like the pandemic in a collaborative way.
USAID’s Global LEAD initiative seeks to support 1 million young changemakers over the next four years. Along with other stakeholders, USAID is working to build upon this approach to engage these young peacebuilders, so as to not lose the trust and support of the world’s largest cohort of champions for change.
About the Author
Michael McCabe is the Agency Senior Advisor on Youth at USAID. He currently sits in the Inclusive Development Hub of the Bureau for Democracy, Development, and Innovation (DDI).
