Fully-funded UNAOC Young Peacebuilders programme in South Caucasus and Central Asia

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Application Deadline: 31 July 2024

Fully-funded UNAOC Young Peacebuilders programme in South Caucasus and Central Asia

1. The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC)

UNAOC was established in 2005, as an initiative of Secretary-General Kofi Annan and co-sponsored by the Governments of Spain and Türkiye. UNAOC works towards a more socially inclusive world, by building mutual respect among peoples of different cultural and religious identities and highlighting the will of the world’s majority to reject violent extremism and embrace diversity. UNAOC project activities are fashioned around Youth, Education, Media, Migration, and Women as Peace Mediators. UNAOC recognizes the critical role that programming and policymaking in these areas can play in reducing polarization and identity-based tensions and in helping to build bridges between communities. The Alliance benefits from the political support of the Group of Friends, a community of 160 countries, international and regional organizations, which actively promotes the Alliance’s objectives.

2. UNAOC Young Peacebuilders programme in SCCA: Programme overview and timeline

Guided by the principle that youth are key actors to achieve peace and prevent violent extremism, UNAOC develops educational programming to enhance the ability of young people and their organizations to foster mutual respect, understanding and long-term positive relationships between peoples of different cultures and religions. This is in line with the UN Security Council resolutions 2250, 2419 and 2535 as well as the United Nations Secretary-General’s Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism which recognize youth as critical stakeholders in peacebuilding efforts.

The 8th edition of the Young Peacebuilders programme in South Caucasus and Central Asia (SCCA) 2024-2025 is designed to strengthen the skills of young people from the region in tackling stereotypes, prejudice, and xenophobia while providing them with access to regional and global peacebuilding networks and raising visibility of their innovative and effective peace work. The long-term goal is the integration of young peacebuilders in governmental peace processes/policies.

This 8th edition will be implemented in the framework of Peace4Culture Global Call, an initiative launched by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan in partnership with UNAOC.

The aim is to support the growth of networks of young peacebuilders who are equipped with the tools to address stereotypes, prejudice and polarization in order to build more inclusive and peaceful societies, tackling the drivers of violent extremism.

In order to participate, UNAOC Young Peacebuilders programme applicants must commit to completing all phases of the programme, outlined below. Online involvement is part-time, while the workshop is a full time, one-week experience. Participation in the results-sharing symposium is also mandatory.

During the programme, 20 selected participants will:

Learn about stereotypes and how to critically analyze them to reduce their prevalence;

Understand different perspectives in identity-based conflict and gain tools to develop solutions at local, national, and regional levels and transform conflicts peacefully;
Identify push and pull factors creating conditions conducive to violent extremism;
Develop competencies to use different forms of media or expressive arts as a way to create alternative narratives, reduce polarization and promote social inclusion;

Learn how to successfully design and run your project.

Programme components:

Part 1: online phase (3-4 months). Participants access the course through an online collaborative platform provided by UNAOC. UNAOC and other trainers facilitate the modules, allowing participants to get to know each other before their first in-person meeting. They start getting exposed to tools and concepts, engage in discussion, and begin reflecting on their future peace actions. Time commitment: 4 to 5 hours per week to complete the modules (some work can be completed offline).

Part 2: face-to-face workshop (+/- 7-8 days). All participants travel to complete the training and experience how peacebuilding is successfully implemented through a local field visit. They work on the development of their action plan.
Part 3: applied learning (+/- 3-5 months). Implementation of a personal peace initiative: participants are guided by UNAOC’s professional trainers and stay connected with other participants while reporting on the implementation of their projects.
Part 4: results sharing symposium (2-4 days). Participants are invited to travel and participate in a symposium where they share their experiences, lessons learned, achievements, and recommendations with a broader audience of practitioners, policymakers, media, and the general public. In addition, they engage with this audience on topics related to intercultural dialogue, peace, and security.

3. Tentative timeline and logistics

May-July 2024: call for applications
By mid-November 2024: selected participants are notified
December 2024 – February 2025: selected participants take part in introductory online modules (part 1)

April 2025: participants travel to take part in the face-to-face workshop (part 2)
May-September 2025: participants conduct peace activities under the mentorship of the UNAOC trainers (part 3)
October 2025: Results-sharing symposium at a location to be determined

Language: The working language of the programme is English.

4. Costs covered by the organizers

All selected youth participants will be provided with:

Round-trip travel (international or domestic flight, economy class) to the city of the face-to-face workshop and to the city of the symposium;

Accommodation in the city of the face-to-face workshop and the symposium
Meals and coffee breaks during the official duration of the workshop and the symposium
Shuttles or reimbursement of transportation to/from the airport and hotel in the city of the face-to-face workshop and in the city of the symposium.

5. Costs covered by the participants

For the workshop and symposium, youth participants will be responsible for their transportation to and from the airport in their country of residence (and embassy in case a visa is needed), as well as any personal and incidental expenses incurred outside of the official portions of the workshop, such as souvenirs, equipment, additional food, etc.

6. Selection of participants

Youth participants aged 18-25 will be selected based on merit demonstrated through motivation and interest, their experience, and their potential for dissemination and applications of lessons learned. The selection committee will ensure balance regarding age, gender, geography, and diversity of backgrounds among selected participants. In addition, special attention will be paid to ensuring participation of youth from marginalized or disadvantaged groups. The selection committee will be composed of representatives of UNAOC, youth-led structures, and relevant stakeholders in the field.

Eligibility criteria (all requirements must be met in order to be considered eligible):

Age: Be 18-25 years of age for the total duration of the project. To be considered eligible, applicants must be born between September 1999 and September 2006.
Region: Be a citizen of AND/OR live in one of the following SCCA region countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.
Organization: Be active (staff, volunteer, etc.) in a non-government and non-for-profit youth-led organization, network, initiative or movement (led by youth for the benefit of youth) and have the ability to consult with and reach a wider group of young people, audience or network, including at the grassroots and community level.

Commitment: Demonstrate commitment to diversity and pluralism, nonviolence, and peaceful and inclusive societies.
Language: Command of English is sufficient to participate in the online phase and in-person workshop. The applicant understands English very well; possesses intermediate to fluent levels of English, which allow her/him to participate in the conversation and provide input.
Prior experience: The applicant has never taken part in a programme of UNAOC (Summer School, Youth Solidarity Fund, Intercultural Innovation Hub, PLURAL+, PeaceApp, Youth Event at the UNAOC Global Forum, Fellowship Program, Young Peacebuilders, #YouthWagingPeace, Sport and PVE youth fora, EDIN, #DigitalGamesforPeace, Sport for One Humanity).

Passport: In order to be accepted in this programme, selected applicants must hold an international passport valid until at least April 2026. Failure to provide a copy in due time will result in cancellation of participation.
The application is duly completed, submitted by the deadline and contains all supporting documentation, requested as part of the call. Half-complete applications or applications filled in other languages than English will not be reviewed and considered.

Selection criteria:

Motivation and contribution to the programme: ideal applicants demonstrate that they are highly motivated to complete all portions of the programme.
Interest in themes: ideal applicants show some experience in issues related to intercultural dialogue, peacebuilding and preventing violent extremism through examples of initiatives they are part of, or demonstrate a great interest in getting involved in this set of issues.
Experience and potential: ideal applicants are at the beginning stages of their involvement or career in the field of peacebuilding and have specific goals to improve their skills and contribute to peace.

Outreach: ideal applicants and their organization have the capacity and motivation to absorb and disseminate the lessons learned back to their community, organization, and to a wider network or audience.
Future impact and follow up: ideal applicants express strong commitment to conduct personal peace initiatives in their community during the implementation phase and beyond