The IGAD region is home to one of the youngest populations in the world, with youth under the age of 30 constituting over 60% of the total population. In some countries like Somalia and Uganda, this figure exceeds 75%. This demographic presents both an opportunity and a challenge. While youth are a powerful force for peace, innovation, and development, they continue to face complex and interlinked crises that undermine their potential and increase their vulnerability.

Like other youth in the region refugee and displaced youth as well as those from cross border communities play an active and underrecognized roles in advancing peace and resilience within host and displaced communities. Living in camps, informal settlements, or urban displacement contexts, they face intersecting challenges including limited access to education and livelihoods, trauma, exclusion from decision- making, and insecurity. However, they also emerge as local peacebuilders, community organizers, educators, and advocates. From leading peer-to-peer awareness campaigns on peace and social cohesion to leading youth associations that mediate local conflicts or advocate for refugee rights, displaced youth are central to promoting stability in fragile settings.

Overall Objective

To enhance youth leadership and participation in peace and security across the IGAD region by providing a platform for knowledge exchange, policy dialogue, and collaborative action.

Specific Objectives

• To amplify the voices of youth Octet by conflict and displacement, particularly in countries such as Sudan, South Sudan, and Somalia, by providing a platform to share their experiences, resilience, and peacebuilding Sorts.
• To identify and address systemic political, economic, and social barriers that hinder youth participation in peace and security processes across the IGAD region, including unemployment, lack of civic space, displacement, and digital exclusion.

• To facilitate regional knowledge-sharingon youth-led peacebuilding innovations, including the use of digital platforms, creative arts, and social mobilization, especially in the context of current youth-led movements in countries such as Kenya and Uganda.
• To co-develop youth-led policy recommendations and advocacy strategies that promote inclusive governance, safeguard democratic processes, and institutionalize youth participation in peace and security frameworks.
• To strengthen regional youth networks that promote cross-border collaboration, peer learning, and solidarity among young peacebuilders, with a focus on tackling shared challenges like radicalization, misinformation, and climate-induced conflicts.