Adopted in December 2015, UNSC Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security recognizes the importance of the positive contributions which young people are making for the maintenance and promotion of international peace and security. Maintaining and supporting peace can seem like an overwhelming task, especially for young changemakers.  Prospective changemakers may be wondering, ‘How can I put the Resolution 2250 in practice?’, ‘Where do I start?’, and ‘How can I personally promote lasting peace in the world?’ Being aware of these challenges and dedicated to effectively address them, UNITAR has developed a free e-learning course on Youth and Peacebuilding (English, French) to provide answers to these and other questions, and to support participants in their efforts to make the world more peaceful, sustainable and prosperous.

The course has been created with a goal of strengthening participants’ capacities and confidence when it comes to generating solutions to problems that affect their particular communities. Relying on meaningful examples from youth initiatives, UN programs, and the progress study “The Missing Peace: Independent Progress Study on Youth, Peace and Security”, the course will equip participants with practical peacebuilding tools, guidance on how and where to start and how to work effectively with partners.

UNITAR’s Youth and Peacebuilding e-learning course enables learners from around the globe to better understand the current situation of youth in complex contexts, their needs, challenges and potential, and to explore possible entry points for young people’s involvement in peacebuilding activities. Through two parallel tracks for young people and relevant decision-makers in fragile contexts, the course provides participants with the opportunity to develop strategies for youth empowerment and serves to enhance basic skills that are critical to successfully contribute to peacebuilding processes. The focus of the ‘youth’ track is on building and reinforcing capacity and sparking young people’s will to become active and engaged, while the ‘officials and policymakers' counterpart’ track aims at promoting engagement with promising youth initiatives within their spheres of influence.

We are excited to invite both young people and youth partners to take part in this course.

1. Young people aged between 15 and 30, already working, or interested in engaging with others in the fields of peacebuilding and political decision-making.
2. Youth partners, such as decision-makers, politicians, and civil society members, who are interested in taking an active role in youth empowerment and working with and for young people.

The course consists of 5 modules and 9 chapters:

Module 1:

• Chapter 1: Youth and the UN
• Chapter 2: Peace, Peacebuilding, and Youth Participation

Module 2:

• Chapter 1: Effects of Conflict on Youth and Vulnerabilities of Conflict and Post-Conflict Societies
• Chapter 2: Views on Youth and Violence

Module 3:

• Chapter 1: Youth as Actor in Peacebuilding
• Chapter 2: Approaches to Involve Youth in Peacebuilding

Module 4:

• Chapter 1: Youth Peacebuilding Projects in Practice
• Chapter 2 (Youth): Focusing on Yourself: Introversion
• Chapter 2 (Youth Partner): Reflections on Society and Self

Module 5:

• Chapter 1 (Youth): Initiative Design
• Chapter 1 (Youth Partner): Youth Programming and Entry Points for Support

To access the English version of the course click here.

Pour accéder à la version française du cours, cliquez ici.