Youth, Peace and Programming for Change: Critical Reflection between the University, the Headquarters and the Field

TY - JOUR

T1 - Youth, Peace and Programming for Change

T2 - Critical Reflection between the University, the Headquarters and the Field

AU - Podder, Sukanya

AU - Prelis, Saji

AU - Sankaituah, Jimmy

PY - 2021/8/31

Y1 - 2021/8/31

N2 - Post conflict peacebuilding activities generate the hope for fresh opportunities, access to services, and sustainable livelihoods among youth even when the state is indebted to donors and remains mired in corruption and incapacity. The disappointment that follows reminds us of what historian Jay Winter (2006) describes as ‘minor utopias’. Such an utopia is often how young people experience peacebuilding. The disappointment to deliver on the part of the state and international organisations is partly due to the nature of design, funding and rationale for youth and peace projects. How can we shift the narrative from disappointment to critical empowerment? Based on our academic, policy and practical work with children and young people, we argue that such a shift requires a transition from instrumental programming, as projected in the theory of change underlying a specific project effort, to thinking about long-term and cumulative effects of different projects. Meaningful youth engagement in post-conflict societies demands a long-term commitment to youth-led and adult supported processes that emphasise youth inclusion and not simply donor facilitated participation in short-term projects. Without establishing a two-way communication between youth needs and formal institutions, without repairing citizen-state relations, the gains of short-term technocratic peacebuilding will not be transformative or long-lasting.

AB - Post conflict peacebuilding activities generate the hope for fresh opportunities, access to services, and sustainable livelihoods among youth even when the state is indebted to donors and remains mired in corruption and incapacity. The disappointment that follows reminds us of what historian Jay Winter (2006) describes as ‘minor utopias’. Such an utopia is often how young people experience peacebuilding. The disappointment to deliver on the part of the state and international organisations is partly due to the nature of design, funding and rationale for youth and peace projects. How can we shift the narrative from disappointment to critical empowerment? Based on our academic, policy and practical work with children and young people, we argue that such a shift requires a transition from instrumental programming, as projected in the theory of change underlying a specific project effort, to thinking about long-term and cumulative effects of different projects. Meaningful youth engagement in post-conflict societies demands a long-term commitment to youth-led and adult supported processes that emphasise youth inclusion and not simply donor facilitated participation in short-term projects. Without establishing a two-way communication between youth needs and formal institutions, without repairing citizen-state relations, the gains of short-term technocratic peacebuilding will not be transformative or long-lasting.

M3 - Article

SN - 1758-5899

JO - Global Policy

JF - Global Policy

ER -