Youth in Governance and Peacebuilding

In the Asia-Pacific region, over 1.1 billion young people face challenges in shaping policies, with only 1.84% of parliamentarians under 30, reflecting limited political influence. Furthermore, despite being disproportionately impacted by conflicts, the region struggles to implement UN resolutions, with a majority of the countries in the region lacking national strategies for the positive youth contribution recognized by UNSCR 2250. Additionally, with institutional, socio-cultural, and legal barriers, Asia-Pacific youth encounter obstacles in civic participation, while the environmental challenges in the region grapple with climate governance issues.

Making sure that no one is left behind, our targeted efforts include young women, those from low-income backgrounds, migrant and displaced youth, Indigenous youth, LGBTQI+ youth, and young people with disabilities.  

Pillar 4 of UNDP’s Youth Empowerment Portfolio or work on Youth in Governance and Peacebuilding, aims to boost both Asia and Pacific youth’s interest, capacity, engagement and active participation in the politics, peacebuilding and democratic institutions that affect their daily lives, both now and in the future.

Under the focus areas of Youth Political Participation, Youth, Peace and Security, Meaningful Youth Engagement and Climate Governance, UNDP’s work on Youth in Governance and Peacebuilding in the Asia-Pacific region aims to enable young people’s civic engagement and meaningful participation in decision-making, political processes and governance structures for peaceful and inclusive societies.

Objectives

Support national and sub-national governments to engage youth in meaningful ways in decision-making and policy development, including implementing youth, peace, and security framework.
Create and expand safe spaces for youth participation and engagement in the public policy and peacebuilding processes.
Build the capacity of youth to meaningfully participate in civic engagement, peacebuilding, decision-making and other political processes.

Meaningful youth engagement is a crucial aspect of building inclusive and sustainable societies in the Asia-Pacific region. Challenges such as institutional barriers, socio-cultural norms, and legal constraints impede the active involvement of young people in decision-making processes. UNDP's efforts in Youth in Governance and Peacebuilding seek to enable civic engagement, empowering young people to participate in political processes. This initiative aims to create safe spaces, enhance capacity, and foster active participation, ensuring that diverse youth, including women, those with low incomes, migrants, and LGBTQI+ individuals, are included in the dialogue.

More than 1.1 billion young people aged 15 to 29 live in the Asia-Pacific region, constituting more than 25 per cent of the population. While youth engagement in political activism, such as street protests and rallying for their communities has been long-standing, their participation in shaping policy, legislation and political decision-making process remains limited – often side-lined or ignored or suppressed. This is reflected in several manners:  

only 1.84% of parliamentarians are under 30 years old in Asia. (IPU, 2023).  
The 2020 Youth Development Index (YDI) measures progress in 181 countries across 27 indicators in 6 domains. The global average indicates improvement in five out of the six domains for the youth population, with the exception being political and civic participation, which experienced a decline of 0.18% from 2010 to 2018. 
Only 5% (10) countries in the world have electoral quotas for youth at the national level, with the Philippines being the only country in Asia Pacific with such a quota. 
In some democracies, such as India, there is a gerontocracy problem, where the average age of the lower house members is over 58 years - exactly three decades older than India’s median age of 28.4.

In practice, there are several important challenges to youth political participation such as institutional barriers, socio-cultural barriers, legal barriers, financial barriers, lack of qualitative education, youth distrust in political institutions and shrinking civic space for young activists. 

Climate governance is a pressing concern in the Asia-Pacific region, home to a significant portion of the global population. The impact of climate change is evident through disasters, inequalities, and environmental challenges. UNDP's Youth Empowerment Portfolio addresses climate governance, emphasizing the role of young people in building resilience and preventing environmental degradation. In this region, where climate-related vulnerabilities are pronounced, there is a growing need for youth involvement in shaping climate policies, sustainable practices, and innovative solutions to combat the adverse effects of climate change.

The Asia-Pacific region experiences multidimensional crises and conflicts, with half of the world's refugee population located in the region. Despite young people being exposed to the impacts of violent conflicts, the Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS) agenda, marked by UN Security Council resolutions like 2250 and 2535, faces challenges in implementation. The Philippines stands out as the sole country with a national strategy for YPS. Progress in incorporating the positive contributions of young women and men to peacebuilding remains limited in the region, emphasizing the need for focused efforts to address these issues.

Involving youth in the peace and security agenda involves youth actively contributing to peacebuilding, decision-making, peace processes, and protection through engagement in youth-friendly legal systems, peace education, conflict transformation, crisis prevention, resilience building, and initiatives addressing hate speech, misinformation, polarization, and preventing violent extremism.

Young people’s role in Peace and Security has been understudied. Very little is understood and tends to be largely stereotypical, with young men and women considered “victims” or “perpetrators” in a conflict. For the first time in history, in December 2015, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted the first resolution (UNSCR 2250) on youth, peace and security (YPS), recognizing the positive contribution of young women and men to peace. This landmark resolution identifies five key pillars for action: participation, protection, prevention, partnerships and disengagement and reintegration. Resolution 2250 was followed in 2018 by resolution 2419 and, in 2020, by resolution 2535, underlining the vital need to include youth in peacebuilding decision-making and supporting their work in building and sustaining peace. 

Multiple countries in the region are in the midst of multidimensional crises and armed conflict, and half of the world’s refugee population is located in this region. Even while the youth in the region are often exposed to the detrimental impacts of violent conflicts, disasters, poverty and inequalities, many young people are contributing to building peace in their communities, Still, while the YPS agenda globally represents a significant and well-established thematic agenda, the region lacks progress towards implementing the agenda, even eight years after resolution 2250. No other country in the region, other than the Philippines, is even close to a national strategy, framework or plan to implement the YPS agenda. 

Stories

Power Up, Asia Pacific: Leveraging the Potential of Youth Political Participation

ASEAN-IPR-UN Workshop on advancing Youth, Peace and Security

Resources

Fast Facts Youth Political Participation in Asia Pacific

More than 1.1 billion young people aged 15 to 29 live in the Asia- Pacific region, constituting more than 25 per cent of the population.

A stocktake and review of youth, peace and security (YPS) programming in the Asia-Pacific

This mapping provides a total of 157 programmes and initiatives by UNDP in Asia and the Pacific, which has Youth Political Participation (YPP) elements integrated or mainstreamed in them and implemented in the region primarily from 2017 to 2023.

YPP Mapping Report Analysis and Recommendations

The analysis and findings from this mapping are presented in this report. The insights derived from this mapping aim to guide the strategic vision and advocacy of the UNDP in advancing Youth Political Participation in the Asia-Pacific region.

Youth, Peace and Security: Fostering Youth-Inclusive Political Processes

Published by UNDP, this Guide aims to serve as a comprehensive resource for practitioners and experts devoted to advancing the Youth, Peace and Security agenda, with an emphasis on young people’s participation.

FAST FACTS Youth Peace and Security in Asia Pacific

For the first time in history, in December 2015, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted the first resolution (UNSCR 2250) on Youth, Peace and Security (YPS), recognizing the positive contributions of young women and men to peace. While the YPS agenda globally represents a significant and well-established thematic agenda, the region lacks progress towards implementing the agenda, even eight years after resolution 2250. No other country in the region, other than the Philippines, is even close to a national strategy, framework or plan to implement the YPS agenda.

YGP | Youth in Governance and Peacebuilding