Transnational Youth Violence Prevention & Peacebuilding Summits
An operational unit of the Global Youth Advocacy & Intergenerational Justice Diplomacy Division, convening international summits and negotiating frameworks for youth violence prevention, gang intervention, and youth-led peacebuilding — recognizing that young people are not only the primary victims of violence but also its most powerful preventers when given the support and opportunity to build peace.
Mission & Operational Scope
Young Peacebuilders as the World's Greatest Asset
Youth violence — whether gang violence, political violence, ethnic conflict, or gender-based violence — is both a symptom of failed social systems and a cause of cascading harm that destroys communities and perpetuates cycles of trauma across generations. The evidence on violence prevention is clear: punitive approaches that criminalize young people involved in violence produce worse outcomes than prevention-focused approaches that address root causes and create pathways out of violent environments. Yet punitive responses remain politically dominant in most nations.
This unit convenes transnational summits that build international consensus on evidence-based youth violence prevention, facilitates cross-border exchange of effective gang intervention and community violence interruption programs, and develops international frameworks that support youth-led peacebuilding in conflict-affected communities.
Governing Doctrine
International Standards & Frameworks
- UNSCR 2250UN Security Council Resolution 2250 — Youth, Peace and Security agenda recognizing youth as positive agents in conflict prevention and peacebuilding
- WHOWHO INSPIRE Strategies — evidence-based violence prevention framework including youth-focused interventions for reducing interpersonal and community violence
- RiyadhUN Riyadh Guidelines — prevention-focused framework addressing the social, economic, and community factors that drive youth involvement in violence
- SDG 16SDG 16.1 — significant reduction in all forms of violence and related death rates, with youth violence prevention as a core implementation pathway
Operational Capabilities
Six Core Functions
01
Transnational Youth Violence Prevention Summits
Convene transnational summits that bring together young people, practitioners, policymakers, and researchers from multiple nations to build international consensus on evidence-based youth violence prevention approaches and develop shared commitments to implementation.
02
Community Violence Interruption Program Exchange
Facilitate international exchange of community violence interruption programs — the credible messenger and street outreach models that have demonstrated effectiveness in reducing gang violence — sharing implementation knowledge across national boundaries and adapting proven models to diverse contexts.
03
Youth-Led Peacebuilding Support Frameworks
Develop international frameworks that support youth-led peacebuilding in conflict-affected communities, providing the funding, protection, and institutional recognition that young peacebuilders need to sustain their work in environments where violence remains a constant threat.
04
Transnational Gang & Organized Crime Response
Facilitate international cooperation on transnational gang and organized crime responses that address the cross-border networks that recruit young people into violence — developing coordinated law enforcement, social intervention, and community development approaches that disrupt these networks.
05
Trauma-Informed Violence Prevention
Develop international frameworks for trauma-informed violence prevention that recognize the relationship between childhood trauma exposure and later violence involvement — promoting the healing-centered approaches that address the root causes of violence rather than simply punishing its symptoms.
06
Youth Peace Ambassador Programs
Develop international youth peace ambassador programs that train and deploy young people as credible voices for peace in their communities — building the peer-to-peer influence networks that are among the most effective mechanisms for changing the norms and attitudes that sustain cultures of violence.