Examining the Challenges of Localizing United Nations’ Global Peacebuilding Agendas

Abstract

In December 2015, the UNSC adopted Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS). This framework sought to centralize the role of youth in the promotion of international peace and security. However, meaningful youth engagement has remained severely limited, even across supposedly inclusive institutional frameworks. This situation, combined with structural limitations, such as minimal program evaluations, the absence of available data to quantify the impact of youth engagement in securing peacebuilding outcomes, and the lack of implementation frameworks that are country and culture-sensitive, have led to paralyzing of the agenda’s goals. As a result, disenchantment has increased among both young activists and UN personnel, compromising inter-generational dialogue. The limitations in YPS implementation mirror traditional challenges of contextualizing global agendas and operations in local interventions across peacebuilding and post-conflict scenarios. Focusing on Sudan, the thesis provides an in-depth case review of the implementation of the YPS Agenda across peacebuilding operations in the country. The thesis leverages qualitative in depth-interviews with key informants from the UNFPA, UNICEF, and the UNDP, and with activists on the ground in Sudan to further contextualize discussions and competing priorities within YPS project implementation and understand the broader challenges of implementing global UN peacebuilding agendas.