Last week, from 7-8 October 2025, Building Blocks for Peace Foundation, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Youth Development, and with support from the Nigeria Youth Futures Fund organised a capacity-building training for young people across the six Area Council in Abuja, Nigeria on โTransforming Narratives and Advocacy for the Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS)โ.
For this training, we tried as much as possible to invite those who had limited knowledge about the youth, peace, and security (YPS) agenda. We did this because of the realisation that even though the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2250 on Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS) is almost ten years old, there is still a low level of awareness, especially among young people working outside the peacebuilding and civil society space. And for us, youth inclusion means including those who are often left out of these conversations.
The training covered a range of topics, including an introduction to conflict transformation, peacebuilding, and multi-stakeholder diplomacy, advocacy principles with examples of successful advocacy case studies in Nigeria, and how to transform narratives through positive storytelling. Over two days, participants were introduced to the foundations of the YPS Agenda, including the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2250 its five key pillars: Participation, Protection, Prevention, Partnership, and Disengagement and Reintegration. They were also given an overview of Nigeriaโs National Action Plan on Youth, Peace, and Security, as well as various strategies for driving local implementation of the YPS agenda.
Interestingly, many of these young people in attendance were already contributing meaningfully to peacebuilding within their communities, yet were unaware that a formal YPS policy framework existed to support and amplify their efforts. During the two-day training, they were also trained on how to begin developing a Local or State Action Plan on youth, Peace, and Security. At the end of the training, participants committed to passing down the knowledge gained to members of their local communities.
At Building Blocks for Peace Foundation, we remain committed to advancing and localising the YPS and WPS agendas and equipping young people with the skills to become actively engaged in building peace through innovative and creative means. To continue this work, we welcome partnerships, grant opportunities, and funding support that will enable us to reach more young people, especially those in rural areas who are often left out of peacebuilding conversations.
If you are passionate about youth and women’s inclusion, peace advocacy, or policy influencing, I would love to connect and explore areas of collaboration.