Events
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What role for youth in peace agreements?: Introducing a new dataset
December 13, 2023 @ 11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Free
Asli Ozcelik Olcay (University of Glasgow School of Law) introduces a new dataset on references to youth in peace agreements from 1990-2022 and discusses key findings on the relationship between youth and armed conflict.
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What role for youth in peace agreements?: Introducing a new dataset
Today’s youth population is the largest in history, representing 24% of the global population, A significant part of the youth population globally is estimated to be affected by armed conflict. Marginalisation of youth in different avenues of life is among the root causes of some conflicts. Armed conflict also has significant adverse consequences for young people, from impeding their access to education, health, and livelihoods to leading to displacement. While some young people join the armed forces of conflict parties, many remain unarmed and play other roles in conflict situations, delivering humanitarian aid, acting as local mediators, and building peace. Where peace agreements refer to youth, they provide valuable insights into the multifaceted relationship between youth and armed conflict. Where this is not the case, it may be an indication of youth’s marginalisation in a peace process.
The aim of this talk is to introduce the first peace agreement dataset that adopts a youth lens, “References to Youth in Peace Agreements, 1990-2022 (YPAD)”, which draws on the PA-X Peace Agreements Database. YPAD contains 208 peace agreements that refer to youth, young people, or similar, concluded between the years of 1990-2022 to bring an end to conflicts of inter-state, intra-state, or local nature. The data demonstrates that referencing youth in peace agreements remains a marginal practice, with only 12% of the peace agreements concluded in the said timeframe referring to youth. Yet, it also reveals a wide variety of practices to be learned from in relation to youth inclusion in the negotiation process, content, and implementation of peace agreements, which to date were not systemically analysed. In addition to introducing the data, Asli Ozcelik Olcay will discuss some of the key findings and offer a thematic analysis of the references to youth.