Young NI Ambassadors on a UN mission in Youth4Peace

Young NI Ambassadors on a UN mission in Youth4Peace

On 3rd May as Beyond Skin launches the Northern Ireland Youth4Peace programme, two young peace Ambassadors from Ballycastle Youth Club and Waveney Youth Club, Ballymena will attend the Trafyl Training for Young Leaders on Community Development in Odemis in Turkey. This programme is in partnership with United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY) member Ceipes and funded through the Council of Europe.  Beyond Skin Youth4Peace ambassadors from Northern Ireland will attend training and peace building summits around the world between May - July 2016 in Turkey, France, Romania and Georgia.

Today, almost half of the world’s population is under the age of twenty-four. On 9th December 2015, the United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security. This historical document is the first of its kind to recognise the positive role young people play in building sustainable peace and sets out the need for governments and other stakeholders to support young people in this role.

Since 2012, UNOY have been working intensively towards adoption of resolution 2250 which is about engaging with young peacebuilders and making connections between them and policy makers.  UN resolution 2250 represents a landmark for the participation of young people involved in transforming conflict, peacebuilding and countering violence. 

Beyond Skin is the all-Ireland representative and a member of UNOY, a network of seventy worldwide youth peacebuilding organisations that represent 45 countries between them. Beyond Skin will be putting the Youth4Peace spotlight on the inclusion of young people in Northern Ireland in peacebuilding dialogue and development.  Youth4Peace will link youth groups and leaders regionally and focus on lobbying, advocacy coupled with a creative programme of artistic events and projects.

Beyond Skin Board Director Maire Grattan commented:

‘The role of young people is pivotal and will ultimately define peacebuilding education and community development in our societies.  Youth4Peace is superb opportunity to bring young people together globally and make their participation real.  In Beyond Skin, we are delighted to be leading this initiative in Northern Ireland.  Opportunities like this for local young people to contribute their experience and learn to lead on a world stage really don’t come along every day.’

Melissa McDonagh (Waveney Youth Club) and Andrea Walker (Ballycastle Youth Club) will join eighteen other young people from nine different countries at the international training course in Turkey. This will be followed by local implementation activities that will engage young people in community development and the Youth4Peace campaign.

Ballycastle Senior Youth Leader Tracey Walker  commented

“The girls are both very enthusiastic young woman. Participating in this project will allow them to gain a lot of knowledge and understanding that they can pass on to others when they return. It is great to see young people getting an opportunity like this. Beyond Skin are doing some fantastic work.’

Waveney Senior Youth Leader Janine Jackson said

“This is a fantastic opportunity for Melissa and Andrea to be involved; it will be such a learning curve for them to embrace and learn from other people from around the world and to be recognised as positive role models for their community. They will develop skills and knowledge which they can use with other young people which will become a legacy for their community. I can’t thank Beyond Skin enough for providing this opportunity for these young women and I hope we will continue to have a friendship to the future.”

As part of the Beyond Skin Youth4Peace plan John Paul Youth Club in Ardoyne will also join Ballycastle and Waveney Clubs assisting Beyond Skin to lead and develop the campaign

More information about Youth4Peace is on the Beyond Skin and UNOY websites and you can follow the global campaign of activities on social media by searching #Youth4Peace

For more information contact the Beyond Skin office.

Beyond Skin

Belfast Carnival Centre, 11-47 Boyd Street, Belfast, BT13 2GU, Northern Ireland.

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