An NGO, Building Blocks for Peace Foundation has stressed the need to address what is called “structural” barriers that limit the meaningful inclusion in young people across the country.
The Lead Researcher of Baseline Study on the implementation of the UN Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS), Mr Kola Ibraheem gave the suggestion a paper presentation at a stakeholders’ Consultative and Validation meeting.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the resolution is a milestone in the international community’s affirmation that youth play a significant role in realising global peace and security.
Ibraheem said there is also need to create an enabling environment of the breadth of Youth-led and youth-focused organizations activities.
He said there is urgent need for institutional capacity building on YPS for all relevant actors on implementation of YPS.
“Recommendations from the study stressed the need to popularise the National Action Plan on Youth, Peace and Security among key stakeholders especially Youth groups, CSOs ,media state actor among others.
“There is also need to create an enabling environment of the breadth of Youth-led and youth-focused organisations activities.
“There is urgent need for institutional capacity building on YPS for all relevant actors on implementation of YPS.
“Also there is need to cultivate the support of the media, traditional and religious institutions and the academic community towards supporting YPS programming in Nigeria,” he said.
Also speaking, Mr Rafui Lawal, the Executive Director, Executive Director of Building Blocks for Peace Foundation, said the essence of the meeting was to present the preliminary findings from an ongoing baseline study by the group.
This, Lawal said, was to identify key achievements, opportunities, challenges and gaps impacting the participation of young people in peacebuilding and overall the implementation of the NAP on peace building and security.
“In spite of increased focus on YPS and adoption of several frameworks UNSCR 2250, UNSCR 2535 AU’ framework on YPS, Nigeria’s, NAP on YPS, there is still a long way to go.
“This is in Youths leading role in peacebuilding, however, the implementation and instrumentalisation of these frameworks at the local and national level are highly imperative.”
Lawal said that the adoption of NAP was a major step forward in the operationalisation of the youth peace and security agenda in Nigeria.
He added that the successful implementation of NAP should translate to young people having all the needed support to contribute to the peace process.
In her contribution, the Country Director ActionAid Nigeria, Ene Obi, represented by Mr Samuel Ikani Monitoring and Evaluation specialist, said that youths suffer from unemployment, marginalisation, injustice among others.
Obi said that was why ActionAid Nigeria through her System and Structure Strengthening Approach against Radicalisation to Violence Extremism (SARVE) project supported the domestication of UNSCR 2250 in Kogi and Nassarawa states.
She said that the two states with support from actionAid have domesticated the resolution.
She said that as the nation drew near to elections, youths were encouraged not to be used as agents of violence but as peace builders.
Mr Peter Obi, a representative of the UN Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY), said the organisation partnered with the foundation to get more youth’s involved in peace building.
Obi said that there was need to get more young people, from schools and from communities to understand what peace building meant.
“Take this as a challenge to you and all of us who are seated here because there is need to involve more young people to be part of this exercise.
“Youths want to be part of decision making but sometimes the bundle of obstacles within the society is a very big challenge and that is the reason we need to engage them,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)Nigeria became the first country in Africa and second in the world to adopt the NAP on the Un resolution 2250 on YPS on Nov. 1, 2021.
Source: News Agency of Nigeria