Abuja, Nigeria — The Centre for Peace Advocacy and Sustainable Development (CEPASD) has called on the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to go beyond consultations and ensure formal, institutional inclusion of youth in peacebuilding, conflict prevention, and resilience governance at national, regional, and global levels.
This call was made by Mr. Augustine Igweshi, Executive Director of CEPASD, during the Youth Engagement Session with Ms. Shoko Noda, the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Assistant Administrator, held at the UN House in Abuja as part of activities marking the 80th anniversary of the United Nations.
In his remarks, Mr. Igweshi emphasized that young people are not just advocates for peace but key implementers, mediators, and community stabilizers, and therefore deserve institutional seats at decision-making tables, not just symbolic involvement.
If youth are on the frontlines of conflict and also at the forefront of peace efforts, then it is only logical and just that they are institutionally integrated into national peace architectures, early warning systems, and UNDP-funded governance mechanisms,” Igweshi stated.
He stressed that youth must be embedded as core stakeholders in peacebuilding intervention design, implementation, monitoring, and funding decisions—rather than being treated as external beneficiaries.
Key Recommendations Presented by CEPASD
Mr. Igweshi outlined the following strategic recommendations:
Establishment of Youth Advisory Councils within UNDP country offices to co-design peace and governance programmes.
Institutionalized youth representation in national peacebuilding platforms, early warning systems, and climate security response mechanisms.
Dedicated funding quotas for youth-led peacebuilding and conflict prevention organisations, particularly those working in local communities.
Integration of youth expertise into UNDP crisis response and stabilization frameworks to ensure local ownership and sustainability.
Institutional inclusion is not about tokenism—it is about power-sharing, responsibility, and accountability,” Igweshi added. “To build lasting peace, young people must be seen not as recipients of peace, but as architects of peace.”
UN@80: A Turning Point for Youth Inclusion
Mr. Igweshi noted that as the UN marks 80 years of global impact, now is the time to transform youth engagement from consultative rhetoric to structured governance. He urged UNDP to lead in creating systems that permanently embed youth leadership into resilience, peacebuilding, and conflict prevention frameworks.
About CEPASD
The Centre for Peace Advocacy and Sustainable Development (CEPASD) is a youth-driven organization working to promote peace, security, youth development, gender justice, human rights sustainable development through innovation, advocacy, and community leadership in Nigeria and across Africa.