Engaging Youth as Actors of Peace in Central Mali and Northern Burkina Faso

Although the signing of the Algiers Agreement in 2015 by prominent warring parties showed a promising opportunity for peace in Mali, two years later, international observers and national stakeholders are still concerned about the lack of progress in the implementation of the Accord and the ongoing deterioration of the security situation. However, unlike the 2012 crisis that unravelled in the North, this time the central Mali serves as the epicenter of instability. Neighboring Burkinabe regions have experienced similar trends since 2015 in a worrying spillover effect, and is increasingly affected by violent extremist attacks targeting police and military stations as well as schools, intimidating the civilian population and threatening teachers and local leaders. For this reason, Search for Common Ground (SFCG) is implementing a 12-month pilot project to strengthen youth engagement in key communities across Central Mali and Northern Burkina Faso and leverage youth participation towards sustainable peace and stability. Overall, this this youth-led initiative will seek to tackle key issues impeding constructive youth engagement in Mali and Burkina Faso by strengthening leadership capacities of young people to engage constructively around the grievances in their communities and enabling young people to be recognized as agents of positive change for peace, security and resilience. The action proposed under this initiative will equip Malian and Burkinabe youth with critical conflict prevention and transformation skills, as well as social communication tools, and allow them to undertake action in their communities. More specifically, selected youths will be trained in leadership, Common Ground approach and conflict transformation to provide them with the skills to set-up community fora and collaborative actions in targeted communities. SFCG’s teams will also train youths in participatory theatre and assist them in organizing performances, and develop a youth-led fictional radio soap opera. We estimate that at least 9600 people will be indirectly targeted through the community outreach activities and media programs. Thanks to this project, we will contribute to positively shift local dynamics and increase community resilience in a continuously deteriorating context.