\ Global Youth Development Index and Report 2016
Figure 4.2 The correlation between the YDI scores of countries and their levels of domestic peace as
measured by the GPI
More developed
1.0
0.9
DEU
DNK
2016 Youth Development Index
R=-0.62
AUS GBR
0.8
Lower development
98
CRI
ALB
0.7
BTN
LBY
0.6
GUY
UGA
IND
EGY
0.5
SYR
PAK
MWI
AFG
0.4
TCD
0.3
0.2
1.00
2.00
More peaceful
3.00
2016 Global Peace Index - internal score
4.00
5.00
Less peaceful
Source: Commonwealth Secretariat
4.4 Youth and peace-building
that integrates the political, security, human rights,
humanitarian and development aspects of peacebuilding. However, the preponderance of large youth
bulges in many conflict-ridden countries, or in areas
still recovering from devastating bouts of violence,
means that the responsibility to ‘sustain peace over
the long term’ will increasingly be a burden that
young people have to bear.61
Over the past few years, the role of young people
in peace-building has evolved rapidly, culminating
in December 2015 with the adoption of UN
Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace
and Security. The resolution states that young
people can be strong and active players in creating
peaceful societies, free from violence and conflict,
and have the potential to be ‘valuable innovators of
change‘.60
Young people are emerging as vocal and effective
actors within the peace-building movement at the
global level. The community-level peace-building
in which many young people are engaged, often in
the face of great danger to themselves and their
families, and the rejection by a majority of young
people of extremist ideologies and causes, are
proof that they can be highly effective agents and
champions of peace.
Peace-building is ultimately about securing
an environment where peace can flourish. Its
champions recognise the complex conflicts that
states now endure – encompassing civil war, armed
militias, cyber-warfare, terrorism or violent groups –
and therefore promote a cross-sector agenda
Young people’s role in peace-building at the
international level is championed and framed by the
Guiding Principles on Young People’s Participation
in Peacebuilding,62 developed in 2014 through a
consultative process led by the UN Interagency
Network on Youth Development and the
of their poor governance and weak institutional
structures, are less resilient to conflicts and natural
disasters than other states. The fact that most
fragile states have high youth bulges further
weakens their ability to withstand conflicts or to
recover from them.
Select target paragraph3
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