Now, more than ever before, we are seeing just how crucial youth voices are in peacebuilding and conflict resolution. Young people are uniquely affected by violence and conflict, and as such, they deserve a spot at the table – the opportunity to participate in building a community which guarantees freedom, dignity, and democracy. While many institutions and organizations are pushing for the involvement of youth in peace and security, it goes without saying there is always more work to be done and new gaps to be filled.
Youth participation in peacebuilding and local governance remains essential in Kosovo*, especially in municipalities where young people have limited opportunities to influence local policies and planning processes. While the Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) agenda provides an important framework for youth engagement, its practical integration at municipal level remains uneven and requires further support.
As such, RYCO’s Local Branch Office (LBO) in Prishtina has partnered up with OSCE Mission in Kosovo* and the Dialogue Academy Network of Alumnae for the project ‘Localizing Youth, Peace and Security in Municipal Youth Governance’. Precisely, the main questions addressed being how much is youth being involved in peace and security within their municipalities, and what more can be done?
Within the project, a one-day training for municipal representatives was held in Prishtina, on the 14th of October. The aim of this training was to support Directors of Youth and municipal youth officers in better understanding the relevance of the YPS agenda and contextualizing it within their local plans and strategies. Municipal officials from Mitrovica, Drenas, Rahovec, Istog, and Prishtina were welcomed with opening speeches from Mrs. Krenare Gashi-Krasniqi, Head of Local Branch Office, and Mr. Ivan Vchkov, Senior Programme Officer at OMIK. During the training, Directors of Youth and municipal youth officers got the opportunity to delve deeper into the core pillars of the YPS agenda and how to integrate them into local decision-making. After mapping community-specific gaps, the municipal representatives began drafting municipal YPS integration plans, which will be refined within the upcoming months and used to establish a framework for local governments to embed YPS into their operations.
Following the training, seven follow-up workshops with activists will be organized in municipalities Shtime, South Mitrovica, Drenas, Rahovec, Istog, Prizren, and Prishtina, aiming to provide space for young people to discuss where and how municipalities can integrate YPS into local governance, and how young people can support this process. This feedback will be shared with the municipalities, and within the next months they will get additional support in finalizing and applying their YPS integration plans.
Young people are incredibly important in crafting a peaceful present and future, ones which ensure human rights for all. Oftentimes, their participation is simply an issue of finding a few extra chairs to add to the table, and making sure their voices are heard loud and clear. Projects like ours are there to push forward exactly such processes – knowing that, when it comes to peace and security, no one does it best, and with more hope, than young people.
We look forward to seeing YPS integration in the municipalities of Prishtina, Drenas, Rahovec, Istog, Prizren, Shtime and South Mitrovica, and remain incredibly optimistic about the outcomes, and collaboration with the municipality representatives and young people.
*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.
