Challenges to Youth Engagement in Peacebuilding (Published)
The agentic capacity of youth as peacebuilders is now not in doubt. In this paper we used a mixed methods research to explore the views of elite youth concerning the challenges to youth engagement in peacebuilding. The study population included 120 females and 183 males. Out of the 303, we noticed that 145 had some experience with conflict while 26 were active fighters. From the results, we argued that there are three strands of factors affecting youth engagement in peacebuilding. First, youth are mobilised by political forces (actors) and traditional leaders. Second, youth are excluded from peacebuilding initiatives because they are conceptualised as troublemakers. Thirdly, the youth lack peacebuilding skills. Therefore, peacebuilding organisations, institutions and networks should actively train youth in peace programming initiatives. National architectures of peace should organize peacebuilding capacity training programmes for youth and engage them actively in peacebuilding initiatives.
Keywords: Challenges, Youth, engagement, peacebuilding
Youth Volunteerism in Socio-Economic Activities for Sustainable Community Development in Nigeria (Published)
The desire to help others or contribute to the society has been an essential aspect of human nature. Volunteerism is the act of donating time, energy knowledge, skills etc. for the benefit of other people in the community as a social responsibility rather for any financial benefit or remuneration. The success of any nation depends on the involvement of the young adults in the socio-economic development, especially at this time of recession that youth unemployment is very high. For the youth, volunteering offer opportunities for self-development and provide a valuable grounding in the practice of citizenship. With the right education for all the citizens, the large expanded youth population could provide the continuing growth and thus sustainable development. With the view of these, volunteer groups should be formed at the primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions as means of promoting sustainable development. Mass media houses should advertise success stories of volunteer effort and promote volunteerism for sustainable development.
Keywords: Socio-economic development., Sustainable Development, Volunteerism, Youth