Introduction

Forty-three percent of our world's population is under 25 years old (UNICEF 2014; United Nations 2012, p. 1). One billion children live in countries or territories affected by armed conflict - almost one sixth of the total world population (European Commission 2014).

This chapter introduces and shares key findings from a multiagency, multicountry, and multi-donor (3M) evaluation of children and youth participation in peacebuilding that was undertaken in Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nepal over 1 year period from July 2014 to June 2015 (McGill et al. 2015). The chapter provides a brief introduction to the Global Partnership for Children and Youth in Peacebuilding which organized and implemented the participatory evaluation process.

There is no universally agreed definition of peace. The understanding of peace often includes the absence of war or other hostilities, an agreement or treaty to end hostilities, freedom from quarrels and disagreement and harmonious relations, reconciliation, nonviolence or conflict-transformation efforts preventing or limiting violence, public security and order, and inner contentment and serenity. In this evaluation, peacebuilding was defined as “work to prevent, stop, or heal the occurrence of any form of violence. Peacebuilding includes reconciliation, nonvi­olence or conflict-transformation efforts, and prevention or limitation of violence.” It was recognized that peacebuilding could be done at the individual, family, community, subnational, national, and global level. This evaluation focused upon majority world contexts affected by armed conflict. However, it also recognized that children and youth are affected by different forms of violence, some forms of which may not be directly related to armed conflict. Galtung (1969) described three types of violence: direct, cultural, and structural violence which are interrelated. Direct violence can take many forms. In its classic form, it involves the use of physical force, like beating, killing, torture, or rape. Verbal violence, like humili­ation or being threatened, is also considered a form of direct violence. Cultural violence includes forms of violence that are justified or encouraged by cultural attitudes, beliefs, or social norms.

The importance of child and youth agency and participation is increasingly recognized by practitioners, researchers, and academics who are guided by rights- based approaches to programming (Hart 2004; Theis and O’Kane 2005; Nosworthy

2009) and by theories concerning the social construction of childhood (James and James 2008; James and Prout 1990). Childhood studies acknowledge children as agents who participate in the construction of their own lives and recognize the diversity of childhood experience which is also influenced by wider sociocultural, political, and geographic factors (James and James 2008).

The human rights framework recognizes people as agents and right holders who should be empowered to participate in decisions affecting them, to claim their rights, and to hold duty bearers accountable. Rights-based approaches reaffirm the indivisibility, universality, inalienability, interdependence, and nondiscrimination of human rights. However, it is only in the past three decades that children under the age of 18 years have been recognized and valued as social actors and right holders. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC 1989) promulgated children’s rights to participation, alongside their rights to survival, protection, and development. Children’s participation is recognized as one of the key principles of the UNCRC. Children’s views should be considered in all matters affecting them while taking into consideration their evolving capacity and their best interests.

In contexts affected by violent conflict, human rights abuses are frequently both a cause and a symptom of conflicts (Brainard and Chollet 2007; Collier 2003). Thus, action to address human rights and child rights violations should be a vital component of practices and policies to secure sustained peace (International Coun­cil on Human Rights Policy 2006). Support for citizenship participation and good governance, including space for children and youth participation and representation is imperative to increase space for articulating and addressing rights violations and other root causes of violent conflict in order to better secure peace (Feinstein et al. 2010; O’Kane et al. 2013; Nosworthy 2009; Save the Children et al. 2012).

Youth bulge theorists use demographic and historical evidence to show that most nations with large portions of their population between the ages of 15 and 24 (or 19) - as a portion of their population older than 14 - have significantly increased risk of armed conflict (Ludwig 2013; Urdal 2011a, b; Cincotta and Leahy 2006; Dhillon 2008; Dhillon and Yousef 2009; Urdal 2004). Limitations of youth bulge theories have been identified (McLean Hilker and Fraser 2009). For example, the statistical relationship cannot be used to predict war or violence with a high level of certainty. Furthermore, while a correlation between a high relative youth population and higher risk of violence supports a causal claim, it does not prove causality and reveals little about circumstances and processes at work and why certain young people engage in violence (McLean Hilker and Fraser 2009).

Child and youth participation in conflict, post-conflict, and peacebuilding takes different forms. As described by Feinstein et al. (2010) in their respective child clubs, groups, and associations, children and youth are participating actively to ensure their own protection and to contribute to peacebuilding through:

Organizing meetings among children and youth with discussions about how to live, to relate to each other and to respect each other, and to better protect themselves

• Preparing poems, songs, dance, drama, debates, magazines, and radio programs to sensitize peers, family, school, and community members on child rights and peace

• Promoting conflict transformation, dialogue, and supporting peer advice, peer support, peer education, and peer counseling

• Encouraging all girls and boys to go to school and to study (including children who were formerly associated with armed forces and children with disabilities)

• Raising their voice to tackle discrimination, abuse, violence, and corruption within school and community settings

• Promoting children and youth participation in school governance, local gover­nance, and policy and practice developments to address issues which affect them

Children and youth are also taking specific action according to the particular sociocultural and political context of their country and immediate environment. For example, in the DRC youth are addressing land conflicts, in Colombia children and youth are engaged in environmental protection to prevent exploitation of natural resources, and in Nepal children and youth have been working collectively to reduce discrimination based on caste and ethnicity.

This chapter starts by briefly presenting information about how the evaluation was organized as a global partnership. This is followed by an introduction to the evaluation methodology, its limitations, and the participant groups that were included in the evaluation. The evaluation tools are briefly presented, followed by an overview of lessons learned when children and youth are involved in a partic­ipatory evaluation. Most attention is given to findings concerning the impact of child and youth participation in peacebuilding and a series of factors enhancing and hindering positive impact. A conclusion ends this chapter by underlining the importance of increased recognition of, collaborations with, and investments in children and youth as peacebuilders.

Key findings concerning the quality of participation are not shared in this chapter. However, interested readers are encouraged to read a full report from this evaluation which was published by the Global Partnership for Children and Youth in Peacebuilding in July 2015 (McGill et al. 2015).

2