Agents of Peace: Young People and Violent Conflict of those forcibly displaced.48 Women and young girls are often targeted as a strategy of war. Sexual and physical violence against young girls is used as a weapon to terrorise and humiliate communities, and disrupt their social fabric.49 Young women and girls face risks to their reproductive health and are subjected to additional workloads and caregiving responsibilities. Conflict may also lead to an increase in child marriages, as many parents see early marriage as a strategy to protect girls from sexual violence and economic hardship.50 Although conflicts disrupt both male and female youth’s access to public services, girls often end up in a more disadvantaged position compared with young boys. For example, it has been found that in certain contexts conflict has had a more adverse impact on the education of girls than boys. In countries such as Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Mali, where some armed militant groups openly oppose female education, girls’ education has been deliberately targeted.51 The targeted attacks on girls and their schools have created an atmosphere of fear and further discouraged parents from sending girls to schools. Forced displacement is one of the most visible consequences of violent conflict for children and young people. While many move within their country, others have been forced to make dangerous and often fatal journeys by land or sea routes to seek refuge abroad. According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the world is ‘witnessing the highest levels of displacement on record’ with more than one-half of the 21.3 million refugees being under the age of 18, of whom 54 per cent come from Somalia, Afghanistan and Syria alone.52 Since 2011, 4.9 million people have fled Syria because of the civil conflict53 that has claimed lives through violence and isolation of towns and communities. Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan are home to approximately 4.2 million refugees, and 1.2 million people made the journey to Europe to seek help and support in 2015.54 For many, this is a treacherous journey, and the 95,000 unaccompanied minors undertaking such a trek55 are at increased risk of abuse and human trafficking. In early 2016, 10,000 unaccompanied child refugees disappeared after arriving in Europe.56 Human trafficking is one of the worst manifestations of violence: the forced exploitation of vulnerable people through labour, sex or servitude.57 While media attention has often focused on the physical journey itself, this is neither the beginning nor the end of the story for young people. In deciding to leave their homes, they leave behind their life, families, schools, jobs and loved ones, and face legal, social, economic and cultural barriers in their host country. From not speaking the local language, to difficulties finding housing, not having the right to work, and the fear of not being allowed to stay, refugees of all ages – especially those who are young – face threats to their physical, psychological and mental health. The threat to young people’s development and well-being is critically undermined through forced displacement and migration, and requires a huge response in compassion and investment from governments and civil society. Empirical evidence also testifies to the negative impact of violent conflicts on youth development. The UN estimates that countries affected by conflict and fragility lagged behind the most in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.58 Violence also adversely affects poverty-alleviation efforts in countries. On average, countries affected by major violence have significantly higher poverty rates than those that have not experienced violence.59 The 2016 YDI also confirms that violent conflict has a detrimental effect on the lives of young people. The three countries that showed the greatest decline in their YDI scores between 2010 and 2015 – Pakistan, Angola and Haiti – have all been affected by civil unrest, armed conflict and/or natural disasters in the recent past. Figure 4.2 shows the correlation between the YDI scores of countries and their levels of internal (domestic) peace as measured by the Global Peace Index. The figure shows that globally, youth development is lowest in the least peaceful countries. The GPI measures the impact of internally and externally driven forms of violence and thus captures the levels of violence triggered by, among other indicators, outright armed conflict and interpersonal violence, as measured by the homicide rate. These different forms of violence can be further disaggregated and analysed. While violent conflict does significant damage to youth development, criminal and interpersonal violence are the more pervasive forms of violence affecting many youth around the world. To sum up, violence has an adverse effect on the development of young people. The impact is particularly acute in low and middle-income countries and fragile states, which, on account \ 97