Youth, peace and security: global trends and a Colombian case study

Peace and conflict studies (PACS) has evidenced a growing interest around the world in the engagement of youth in peacebuilding. Youth participate in and are affected by conflict in diverse ways. For example, research has shown that young people, while often focused on as potential or actual victims or perpetrators, can play important roles as peacebuilders. When attempting to define youth, it is crucial to recognize that even different constituents of the UN and key related bodies use “youth” to denote people in different age ranges. Young people advocating for their inclusion in global peacebuilding efforts have seen significant wins. Consider, for example, Malala Yousafzai. Born in northwest Pakistan, Malala began writing for a BBC blog in 2009. The Colombian conflict, which involves many factors, went on for the full second half of the 20th century and well into the 21st, making it the longest armed conflict in the Americas.