Dr Caitlin Mollica1, Dr Helen Berents2, Ms Annie Bayly Douglas3, Dr. Primitivo III Cabanes Ragandang4, Ms Erika Yague2
1University of Newcastle, Australia, 2Griffith University, Australia, 3University of Melbourne, Australia, 4Mindanao State University – iligan Institute of Technology, Philippines
Biography:
Caitlin Mollica is a Lecturer and Deputy Program Convenor at the University of Newcastle, Australia
Helen Berents is an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow and Senior Lecturer at Griffith University.
Annie Douglas (she/her) is a PhD student at the University of Melbourne.
Primitivo III Cabanes Ragandang is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology in the Philippines.
Erika Yague is a PhD Candidate at Griffith University with expertise in youth in emergencies and peacebuilding.
Abstract:
Youth are integral to more just and sustainable peace (Berents 2022; Ozerdem & Podder 2015). Since 2015, the global Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) agenda, has codified this importance, requiring States to create meaningful partnerships with youth, that realize the critical imperative for diverse inclusive representation at all levels of peace governance. Yet, despite this growing recognition, in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, they are rarely included as decision-makers in institutional efforts to build peace (DFAT 2022; ASEAN 2022). In response to this exclusion from formal spaces, youth create alternative, often informal pathways to contribute substantively to peace efforts in their communities (Altiok et. Al 2020; Mollica 2024). While regional momentum for YPS has accelerated, adoption remains sporadic and shallow. As such, meaningful inclusion is largely reliant on the individual advocacy efforts of youth, who champion their leadership capacity, their commitment to network and coalition building, and the significance of these efforts to the realisation of lasting peace and justice.
This roundtable brings together critical youth scholars, to consider how the Asia-Pacific region may better engage with and support youth as leaders for peace and security. It will examine the pathways for youth inclusion at all levels and across formal and informal spaces, to reveal the obstacles to youth engagement. By considering the ways youth are leading peace efforts, this roundtable looks to bring into conversation normative evolutions and institutional desires for inclusion with recognition of the ongoing work of youth and the persistent, intersectional barriers that perpetuate their marginalisation.