By Benjamin Mwibo: The United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commission has engaged youths on becoming advocates for peace and security in Africa. This UN OHCR in collaboration with African Union said the youth can become advocates for peace embracing peace and security as a measure to curtail conflict. This would help to prevent violence and extremism.
The four days meeting, in Kenya Nairobi, was spearheaded by rapporteurs such as Catherine De Preux De Baets, the Regional Gender Advisor UN office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in East Africa Region, Paa Kwesi A Cudjoe, Human Rights Specialist with UN office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in East Africa, and Shewit Desta, UN Regional Program Specialist among others.
The gathering was to purposely to foster youth participation in governance, countering hate speech, plus promoting peace and security in the context of human rights.
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Parties involved, the UN women describing the role of women in creating a conducive environment that fosters peace, Code For Africa, youth peace and security advocate initiatives. These include Empowering Next Generation- (ENG) based in Ethiopia, Youth Action for Community Transformation (YACOT), a refugee youth led organisation in Uganda, The International Center for, Human Rights and Development (IPHRD) that focuses on peace at young women in Kenya.
The Women International Peace and Centre (WIPCentre) that focuses at amplifying women’s voice and powerment in South Sudan, the Ethiopian Institute for Peace (EIP) that focuses on peace building and conflict resolution in Ethiopia, The Women and Girl Child Development Association (WEGCDA) in Uganda.
Dr Rhuks Ako, Coordinator Youth for Peace Africa Program informed that the main challenges faced while advocating for peace and security among the youths, are the internal conflicts that may lead to disunity amongst the youth themselves, whose role would be to foster for peace and security in fellow youths and also the hesitancy to learn more and more of peace building and security.
Ako explained that through continuous sensitization of the youth by the Youth for Peace Africa Programs, this can be dealt with. “The nexus between hate speech and countering it among youth, is either youth participate in prevention or take part in promoting, therefore capacity building and studying of the frameworks should be taken important by youth,” Ako said.