UNDP Brings Together Youth to Discuss Peace and Security Challenges

December 13, 2019

Ashgabat, 13 December 2019: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) together with the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Turkmenistan and the Youth Organization of Turkmenistan conducted a series of two-day round tables and seminars with participation of young people from various backgrounds to discuss the role of youth in promotion of peace and security in the region.

The round tables were held in six pilot cities (Ashgabat, Tejen, Turkmenbashy, Mary, Turkmenabad and Dashoguz) as part of the regional project “Strengthening Community Resilience and Regional Cooperation to Prevent Violent Extremism in Central Asia”  funded by the Government of Japan. The events brought together over 115 young men and women.

“Meetings at local levels create spaces for young people from our communities to talk to inspiring and influential speakers, community members, fellow advocates and decision-makers. The idea is to exchange experiences, facilitate open and honest sharing of the best and worst practices and bridging the different stakeholders,” noted Mehri karakulova, UNDP Project manager.

The first Security Council resolution on Youth, Peace and Security noted that:  “At 1.8 billion, today’s young generation is the largest the world has ever known… Ensuring their active, systematic, and meaningful participation of young people in issues of peace and security is a demographic and democratic imperative. … Their actual contribution and further potential should be valued, recognized and supported as a key to shaping lasting peace and contributing to justice and reconciliation and economic prosperity.”

The roundtables and seminars provided an opportunity for young people to voice out and for local governance representatives to hear the interests, ideas and expectations on the support young people need from their community governance that were related to youth services, employment, and security.  The trainings were facilitated by a group of facilitators that included local governance specialists - representatives of the local municipalities, employment agencies, youth organization councils and women union, as well as the young men and women that participated in the Dushanbe Younithone and project trainers on domestic violence prevention. 

Participants also addressed the importance of gender equality promotion in peace building, the issues of violence, handling stress and emotions as well as building a constructive dialogue for conflict management.