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Upcoming UNDP Global Report, June 2018“Frontlines – Young people at the heart of preventing violent extremism” Executive SummaryThis UNDP global report is titled “Frontlines” in recognition of the fact that young people are already -whether as targets for recruitment, victims of violence, exclusion and repression or as peacebuilders and activists- at the forefront of efforts to address and prevent violent extremism. It argues that appropriate and effective responses require policy-makers and practitioners—whether younger or older—to be clear-eyed and responsive to the positive role young people can and are already playing in preventing violent extremism, as well as identifies sensitivities, risks and challenges for young people in this space. The young profile of many recruits and perpetrators have placed young people at the centre of policy discussions on violent extremism, with a growing concern over youth recruitment and radicalisation into violent extremism in many contexts. Despite this dominant perspective, only a fraction of the world’s youth population will end up as members of extremist groups or will engage in violence. Narrow attention to youth radicalisation into violent extremism has obscured the way in which the phenomenon has been affecting youth populations more broadly. Some of the countries most affected by attacks from violent extremists also have high youth populations, who are often caught between the violence and encroachment of extremist groups and security responses. Not only are young people commonly the victims of various forms of violence perpetrated by these groups, they are also victims of the collateral damages of the phenomenon, such as displacement and loss of livelihoods; psychological strain and trauma; and the spread of intolerance and intimidation in spaces of interaction and recreation. In many places, counter-productive measures, often driven by what the UNSCR 2250-mandated Progress Study on Youth, Peace and Security calls “policy panic,” have often been adopted that have increased the stigma and public mistrust of young people, especially of those from marginalised or minority communities. Many young people have also experienced harms from “hard edge” state responses to counter violent extremism, including surveillance, arrest, injury or death. What is more, for many of the more than 1.8 billion young people worldwide these dynamics have been compounded by already serious development challenges, such as exclusion, political and social disempowerment and high levels of unemployment and deprivation. It is remarkable therefore that many young people and youth organisations, movements and networks—building on their unique strengths and local insights—have already been actively and creatively working as peacebuilders to reduce the influence of violent extremism in their own contexts. In recognition of this fact, a growing number of institutional actors and organisations are now seeking to develop and implement approaches to PVE premised on partnerships with and support to young people. Compared to traditional security and hard-edge responses to violent extremism, preventative approaches still receive a small fraction of funding, and youth-inclusive interventions represent an even smaller subset of these. Yet, a focus on youth resilience by a small but growing number of actors has been described as a “paradigm shift” in a field otherwise dominated by narrow approaches premised on youth radicalisation. This shift has received a boost by the recent adoption of UNSCR 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security and inter-linked policy frameworks at the international level, which recognise the important role young people have to play in promoting peace and development. If the object of policy and programming interventions is ultimately to find effective methods to prevent violent extremism while upholding human rights standards, then it is imperative to understand and cultivate youth resilience and activism. The question is therefore, how to make sure that policies and programmes build on young people’s insights and strengths to address the root causes of violent extremism and, at the same time, promote their voice and leadership in addressing development priorities? This global report helps to answer this question by capturing the perceptions of practitioners (including young ones), and analyzing the latest evidence emerging from PVE research and practice. It identifies both the successes, gaps and opportunities for a youth empowerment approach to PVE. The report presents for the first time an analysis of macro-level trends on Youth and PVE, through a UNDP global survey of practitioners and stakeholders on Youth and C/PVE. Three case studies produced by local researchers on the positive role of youth in PVE, in Pakistan, Yemen and Kosovo, demonstrate how the phenomenon is intersecting with the development challenges of young people. Together with examples of promising practices implemented worldwide, the report offers lessons and recommendations for all actors seeking to implement PVE through a youth empowerment approach.Key findings and messagesEffective and long-term prevention approaches require active support of and investment in young people’s multi-sectoral development priorities, their initiatives and their participation in decision-making. For this to happen, all actors must deepen the forms of engagement with young people themselves, building on their insights, capacities and achievements. The report demonstrates that:Most actors implementing youth and PVE initiatives appear to have a dual focus—engaging “at-risk” youth and youth organisations/networks: Young people are not a homogenous group, and the results from UNDP’s global survey reflects that, in the aggregate, there has been a “dual focus” for engagement. The two most common groups that have been involved in PVE initiatives are youth organisations/networks, as project implementers, and of at-risk young people, however these are locally defined, as project beneficiaries). Young people are at the frontlines and there is common ground for enhancing partnerships, on the basis of inclusivity, openness and a recognition of their contributions and agency: Despite existing mistrust, most youth and non-youth actors report that most young people recognise PVE as a priority in their contexts—even as most non-youth actors appear to under-estimate the extent to which it is a priority for young people. Most survey respondents identified government actors as those who need to be better sensitized to the importance of empowering young people for PVE. Yet, the survey shows that this engagement should not be risk-focused but should be premised on the principles of inclusivity and the assumption (borne out by emerging evidence) that youth participation can enhance impact. The report shows the complicated and context-specific ways that manifestations of violent extremism worldwide have intersected with the lives of young people and the spaces they inhabit, and demonstrates the many ways in which young people worldwide have already taken it upon themselves to reduce the influence of violent extremism with their peers, in their communities and societies. Young people bring unique assets to PVE that should be harnessed: Youth organisations and networks’ role in project implementation reflects a growing acknowledgment of the unique strengths of youth organisations and networks, which include their talent for communication and mobilization. They have also displayed their ability to articulate and amplify youth and community priorities, and they have manifested positive forms of resilience under difficult circumstances, often being on the ground where other actors might not be found. Demonstrating their strategic role, youth actors report working with key constituencies at higher rates than non-youth actors, including young women and hard to reach groups. Advocacy initiatives involving young people have been the most common youth and PVE initiatives worldwide, yet both practitioners and researchers are pointing to their limits: The survey shows that although PVE initiatives centered on youth have taken a variety of forms, by far the most common types of youth and PVE initiatives have been online and offline advocacy and awareness-raising campaigns targeting young people. Youth organisations and networks have been playing an important role in their roll-out and their implementation (as many of the report’s examples show). The evidence suggests that campaigns designed in a top-down fashion have not been effective, and that the impact of campaigns limited to online messaging, one-off events or occasional workshops can wear off without consistent follow up. Many actors persistently pointed to the inherent limits of youth-focused PVE advocacy campaigns in the absence of concrete efforts to address the drivers associated with the deep and unique development challenges faced by young people, especially the most marginalised among them. Perceptions of the cumulative impact of youth and PVE initiatives implemented so far has been mixed, though mostly positive. There is a clear need for more rigorous research and evidence: Many survey respondents reporting youth engagement approaches to PVE are showing promise—with a plurality of survey respondents reporting “positive” or “mostly positive” assessments of impact. Yet, a substantial number also reported that it was “too early to tell.” Few actors have been able to rely on rigorous evidence to make their assessment, and more systematic data and evidence is needed. There is a “participation deficit” in youth and PVE policies and programmes: Even as many young people have taken direct action to address violent extremism in their contexts, and even as some of them are working in partnership with other actors, the report finds that when it comes to youth and PVE, there is still a significant “participation deficit.” Only about 1 in 5 survey respondents report that young people in their contexts have been involved in policy and programming priority setting, and, more broadly, it appears that consultations with young people on PVE-relevant issues in most contexts have been infrequent. 56% of youth actors responding to our surveyed cited the lack of youth consultation as a fundamental challenge to youth in engagement in PVE.There appears to be a significant “engagement gap” in involving the right youth constituencies in programming—specifically of marginalised youth and young women: There appears to be a significant “engagement gap” between the constituencies of young people that many actors agree should be involved in PVE programming versus those they say have been involved in their contexts. More specifically, the survey finds evidence programming in many contexts initiatives were not sufficiently involving key constituencies of young people, especially young people at-risk for recruitment, those in poverty or belonging to minority groups. Similarly, gender equality and the participation of young women has so far not been a priority for PVE policy and (let alone consulting them on their own priorities). Only half of survey respondents indicated that gender was being mainstreamed in initiatives, and only 22% of respondents indicated that there were typically stand-alone PVE initiatives focused on young women.Significant challenges remain for strengthening youth involvement in PVE projects, which include the need to better support youth organisations, address the risks and going beyond short-term approaches: 82% of youth actors cited the lack of funding for youth initiatives as the most significant challenges for youth and PVE, as reported by youth actors, while short term approaches are the top challenge cited by non-youth actors. Political sensitivities and risk, the need for coordination on the agenda and for more capacity development on the issue are also significant challenges.Young people connect PVE to their broader development challenges, yet few youth-focused projects are tackling the participation, governance and conflict drivers of violent extremism: Many young people who participated in UNDP’s focus group discussions—a large number of them local peacebuilders—expressed frustration that youth priorities and voices were being sidelined when it came to decision-making around PVE policies and programmes. The country-based research also revealed clearly that many young people did not see PVE as an isolated issue—making a straight line between the drivers of extremism and their development challenges (especially the most marginalised among them), their exclusion from governance and peacebuilding processes, and emerging literature has only confirmed their perceptions. The report finds that compared to advocacy initiatives, relatively fewer actors are seeing projects aimed at promoting young people’s participation in decision-making and in peacebuilding. Less than a fourth of respondents reported that youth-focused policy-change initiatives were being implemented in their contexts. Moreover, there is a need to expand investment and implementation of multi-sectoral approaches to youth empowerment, especially by integrating peacebuilding components using a UNSCR 2250 approach. National PVE Action Plans have been identified as the most significant PVE policy tools, but these have rarely been designed in a participatory fashion, and have had a narrow sectoral focus on youth issues: Some of the most important PVE-specific policy instruments have been National PVE Action Plans (NAPs), and across these documents, young people are the most frequently mentioned target group for interventions, specifically focusing on sectoral interventions on youth employment and/or education. As valuable as investments are, the evidence is showing the importance of multi-sectoral interventions that promote young people’s role in decision-making. Similarly, even as NAPs appear to be focusing on youth, it appears that very few have involved young people in crafting and implementing them. Key Recommendations:Engage in innovative advocacy and awareness-raising on the positive role and needs of young people for PVE to secure political commitment and support.Systematize youth participation in PVE policy and programming, using a human rights-based, “do no harm” approach.Ensure the adoption of youth-inclusive and youth-focused PVE National Action Plans (NAPs) and other national policy frameworks, addressing young people’s holistic needs, and establishing coordination mechanisms at national level on youth and PVE. Establish and foster multi-stakeholder youth and PVE partnerships with young people at the centre, ensuring coordination and coherence among relevant actors.Significantly invest in integrated, multi-sectoral approaches to youth empowerment.Support, including financially, initiatives led by youth organisations for PVE and peacebuilding.Promote young women’s empowerment and gender sensitive youth & PVE approaches. Promote civic space and an enabling environment for all young people in the context PVE, especially through the interlinkages with other relevant global agendas.Promote context-specific, disaggregated and youth-led data collection, analysis and research on PVE.Contact: Ms. Noella Richard, UNDP Youth Global Programme Manager; Noella.richard@ ................
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