Youth, peace, and security

Young people comprise the largest percentage of the global population (UN), and most young people live in the global south (Das Gupta et al., 2014). In the peace, security, and development fields, the importance of understanding the diverse lived experiences of youth is often highlighted in relation to the fact that over 400 million young people aged 15 to 29 live in a state or province where armed conflict or other organized violence took place in 2016; 23 percent of the global youth population are affected, in some way, by armed conflict or other organized violence (Hagerty, 2017). New research and policy discourses are beginning to highlight the multifaceted ways that young people contribute to, and influence, processes of world politics, peace and security: as agents in formal and informal economies and peace processes, through nonviolent mass movements, and as community organizers and political activists, for example. After a brief historical context and discussion of the state of literature, this chapter describes key debates and future challenges in the field of youth, peace and security.