Security Council Resolution 2250
In December 2015, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security. Security Council Resolution 2250 is the very first resolution on Youth, Peace and Security and recognizes that young women and men play an important and positive role in the maintenance and promotion of international peace and security.
Resolution 2250 mandates the Secretary-General “to carry out a progress study on the youth’s positive contribution to peace processes and conflict resolution, in order to recommend effective responses at local, national, regional and international levels”, and to present the results of the Study to Member States of the United Nations.
Progress Study on Youth, Peace and Security
Little is known about the ways in which young people are actively engaged in peacebuilding processes throughout the world, and more work is required to identify what is currently being done at local, regional, national and international levels by young people to help create the foundations of sustainable peace and development. The Study will fill this gap by providing an independent, evidence-based research and operational report that will also propose a forward-looking agenda for the international community.
The Study will be led by an independent lead author supported by an Advisory Group of independent experts drawn from civil society and academia. Background thematic papers and country case-studies will be developed and a series of consultations with young people will take place over the course of 2016 and 2017. Some of the topics and themes that will be explored include (but are not limited to): young people’s role in peace processes and peace negotiations; understanding the “demographic dividend” in peace and security contexts; youth in formal decision-making structures and electoral processes; economic empowerment, entrepreneurship and decent jobs for youth and their contribution to peace; how to partner with marginalized youth; root causes of youth turning to violence and violent extremism; young refugees and IDPs; the role of young women in peacebuilding and the question of young men’s role and masculinity norms; and peace education and global citizenship education.
The findings and recommendations of the Progress Study will be presented to the Security Council, through a Report of the Secretary-General, which is planned for December 2017 on the second anniversary of the Resolution.
For more information about the Study, please click here.
Appointment of experts to lead the Study
On 12 August 2016, the Secretary-General appointed the experts who will lead the Progress Study:
Lead Author: Graeme Simpson
Graeme Simpson is a global specialist on peacebuilding, conflict and violence, with more than 25 years of experience working in national and international civil society organizations and in partnership with governments, multilateral agencies and national partner organizations. Graeme Simpson is an expert and practitioner on human rights and rule of law, peacebuilding, and reconciliation and reconstruction in conflict-affected and fragile societies. He has been involved extensively in violence and crime prevention work, youth and gender programming, trauma management and victim empowerment, reconciliation and human rights promotion and institutional reform and accountability issues. Graeme Simpson is currently the Director of the US office of Interpeace. For more information about Graeme please click here.
Advisory Group
The lead author will be advised by a group of 21 experts, who will provide substantive insights and directions. In line with the spirit of Resolution 2250 and the goals of the Progress Study, the Advisory Group includes 9 members who are themselves young people below the age of 30, and another 3 below age 35.
- Farea Al-Muslimi (Yemen)
- Scott Atran (United States)
- Chernor Bah (Sierra Leone)
- Ikram Ben Said (Tunisia)
- Malual Bol Kiir (South Sudan)
- Kessy Martine Ekomo-Soignet (Central African Republic)
- Ilwad Elman (Somalia)
- Matilda Flemming (Finland)
- Terri-Ann Gilbert-Roberts (Jamaica)
- Luz Alcira Granada Contreras (Colombia)
- Saba Ismail (Pakistan)
- Thevuni Kavindi Kotigala (Sri Lanka)
- Nur Laiq (United Kingdom)
- Mieke Lopes Cardozo (The Netherlands)
- Robert Muggah (Canada)
- Hussein Nabil Murtaja (Palestine)
- Funmi Olonisakin (Nigeria)
- Salim Salamah (Syria)
- Ali Saleem (Pakistan)
- Hajer Sharief (Libya)
- Marc Sommers (United States)
For more information on the experts from the advisory group, click here.
Steering Committee
A steering committee composed of 34 partners from the UN, non-governmental organizations and inter-governmental partners has been established to steer the overall process.
UN system Entities
DESA (Department of Economic and Social Affairs)
DPA (Department of Political Affairs)
ILO (International Labour Organization)
Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect
OSGEY (Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth)
PBSO (Peacebuilding Support Office)
UNAOC (United Nations Alliance of Civilizations)
UNDP (United Nations Development Programme)
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization)
UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund)
UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme)
UNHCR (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)
UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund)
UNV (United Nations Volunteers)
UN-Women (United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women)
WFP (World Food Programme)
World Bank
NGOs/Academia
Baha’i International Community
Columbia University / AC4 (Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict and Complexity)
Cordaid
Global Civil Society Platform for Peacebuilding and Statebuilding
Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation
Finn Church Aid
Global Network of Women Peacebuilders
Interpeace
Network of Religious & Traditional Peacemakers
Search for Common Ground
United Network of Young Peacebuilders
United States Institute of Peace
World Vision International
Young Peacebuilders
Donors/Intergovernmental Organizations
Commonwealth Secretariat
Organization of American States
PeaceNexus Foundation
A joint United Nations Population Fund / Peacebuilding Support Office Secretariat has been established to coordinate the for the purpose of this Study, working in close collaboration with the Office of the Envoy on Youth. For any questions on the Study or if your organization is interested in supporting it, please contact:
Cécile Mazzacurati
Secretariat, Progress Study on Youth, Peace and Security
UNFPA / PBSO
[email protected]
