Youth Engagement: Peace Initiatives and Challenges

For decades, youth in Manitoba have engaged in acts of kindness and building peace in their communities. Every September for the past 11 years, hundreds of students have participated in the elementary school walk, a Peace Days initiative, sharing messages to foster peace and build connections within the community.

The Youth Nuclear Peace Summit held its 4^th event in November 2024. The summit hosted in Winnipeg brought together youth from across Canada, the US, UK and Japan to discuss global justice, peace and the threats that come from nuclear weapons. High school and university students engaged in conversations and shared their thoughts and opinions. They worked on shaping the future of tomorrow.

Model United Nations Assembly (MUNA) Winnipeg is coming up in May. MUNA simulates the General Assembly of the United Nations and is comprised of students coming together to engage in the General Assembly process. This event helps students to better understand the global landscape and how local perspectives and global perspectives intersect. I recall participating in MUNA in Ottawa when I was in university. The experience was eye-opening. I learned to walk in another person’s shoes. Part of the premise of MUNA is assigning students to represent a country throughout the event. Any decisions and perspectives are meant to be engaged in from that country’s perspective.

Peaceful communities don’t happen overnight, nor do they begin in adulthood. They happen at all stages of life from birth to childhood to the teenage years and so on. Peace shows up in how we are raised, in the activities we choose to spend our time on, in the relationships we invest in and in how we live our lives. Many of the practices and tenets we attribute to peace are learned in our younger years when we are curious, ask questions that challenge societal norms and help us to shape our worldview.

All of these are amazing, organized means for youth to engage in peacebuilding initiatives; however, there are some challenges that youth face in their ability to participate. These include:

1. Lack of accessibility: Youth in remote communities may not be able to attend in person events due to transportation issues. With some communities only having access to a once-a-week bus service or being a fly-in-fly-out community, having their perspectives heard becomes very limited. Additionally, many have unreliable internet at best ruling out the possibility of virtual engagement.
2. Challenges in day-to-day living that don’t allow for participation: Many young people want to participate; however, due to life circumstances some have their focus on surviving the turmoil in their own environment. Others take on adult responsibilities so they can help support their families and have no extra time to give.
3. Language and mental health barriers: Moreover, language and mental health barriers pose challenges; yet those experiencing these barriers may have unique perspectives on peace building. These groups tend to be unaware of opportunities to have their voices and perspectives heard or to contribute to the decisions that have an impact on everyone’s well-being.
4. The focus tends to be on large cities and urban communities: Many initiatives focus on large cities and urban groups missing out on the resourcefulness and perspectives from youth who belong to smaller communities. When one part of the community isn’t experiencing peace, it impacts all the others. Getting diverse perspectives is crucial as it will go further in solving issues across the larger population.