In a workshop and iftar organized by UNSMIL, thirty-eight youth from, Al Ajilat, Zawiya, Sabratha and Jadida, joined officials from the Ministries of Youth, Labour and the Mission to share experiences and discuss ways to reduce community violence last Wednesday.
As part of UNSMIL’s youth strategy – YouEngage – and led by the Mission’s Security Institutions Services Section, twenty-four young men and ten young women met with community leaders, representatives from ministry of youth and Libyan programme of reintegration and rehabilitation discussed the current challenges, and through group work, developed local youth-focused initiatives which could help reduce tensions, mitigating conflict tailored at the local level.
“All conflicts around the world have been solved around tables like these,” said one participant. “It is important to come together, share experiences and identify ways we can move forward.”
The participants discussed how young lives were being lost, families and communities were being affected, and interventions from the state and local leaders were crucial to prevent further conflict.
They also highlighted the pervasive and often damaging role caused by some social media can play in promoting standards that undermine societal cohesion and social peace. Participants agreed that economic incentives, lack of education, tribal security needs and peer pressure played a key role, in misleading the youth and sometimes pushing them to join armed formations and be involved in illegal activities that may harm the society security
“If we want to stop the recruitment of youth into illegal activities, we have to allocate funding properly to support them,” said one participant. “There needs to be an institutional commitment from the state. We need genuine projects which rehabilitate youth,” said another, adding that a marketing campaign which presented different idols and values would be required to reach young people.
The participants recommended the following:
- Youth felt neglected by the state. Training opportunities needed to be increased, and the quality of that training improved. More vocational training opportunities are required.
- Unifying state institutions to strengthen effective governance and structures.
- Rehabilitate and disarm youth, reintegrating them into society with appropriate psychosocial support.
- Implement and improve laws and policies to crimialize armed groups and enforce them. Support state monopoly on arms
- Youth need economic support to establish themselves in business and society, such as investment loans.
- Establishing sports scholarships at higher education institutions would offer youth additional opportunities.
- More youth hostels and centres needed to be established in communities to support youth activities.
- Enhance the role of civil society to promote social welfare, advocate for citizen rights and contribute to community cohesion.
- Government authorities need to allocate resources to limit community violence.
- Support the private sector and free market more with better policies and investment.
- Share experiences with, and learn from, others countries who have also worked on community violence reduction and reintegration.
- More needs to be done to combat hate speech between communities in the area.
- Authorities and the international community need to reach areas beyond Tripoli, Misrata and Benghazi. These areas do not receive enough support and their needs are not well understood.
The integration of youth into peacebuilding efforts is critical to help mitigate future violence and foster community cohesion. UNSMIL is working with community leaders, authorities and youth to develop roadmaps which support communities in their path toward peace.
“Tolerance, reconciliation and forgiveness are not cliches,” said another participant. “Being here with everyone proves there is a start, a cornerstone, for moving forward,” they added.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).
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