The YPS agenda stresses that young people must be active participants and leaders in peace processes, rather than bystanders or labelled as victims. It focuses on five key pillars: youth participation, conflict prevention, protection, partnerships and coordination, and disengagement and reintegration.

Ethiopia, like many African countries, is tasked with translating these international frameworks into practical policies and programs. The African Union’s continental framework, developed alongside the global agenda, specifically addresses the unique challenges facing African youth. The continental framework acknowledges that many young people are drawn into violence not by choice, but due to unmet needs such as lack of socioeconomic opportunities, poor governance, and exclusion from decision-making.

A policy and legal framework for the YPS agenda creates spaces where youth voices are genuinely heard and supported, investing in education and economic opportunities, and ensuring youth-led peace initiatives are adequately funded and coordinated.

The Ministry of Women and Social Affairs collaborated with UNDP to commission a policy-oriented assessment that will inform Ethiopia’s national Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS) National Action Plan (NAP), serving as an entry point for programmatic and policy interventions to empower the youth. 

The assessment included interviews with youth in Addis Ababa, Amhara, Benishangul-Gumuz, Oromia, Sidama, Somali and Tigray regions. 

The finding noted that while government policies aimed at empowering youth exist, concerns remain that many remain on the margins of decision-making processes, unsure how to translate their energy and ideas into meaningful change. Instability and limited economic opportunities have left many young people vulnerable. State Minister Muna Ahmed, in charge of youth affairs at the Ministry of Women and Social Affairs, opened the validation workshop for the assessment with reflections that in the past, many countries had viewed youth as instigators of conflict, but it was becoming widely understood that they are stakeholders in the drive for peace and security. Developing the YPS agenda was a commitment to this new perception.  

For Hager and her peers, peace for Ethiopia’s youth means more than the absence of violence. It means stability and hopes for the future with access to education, decent jobs, fair representation, and the chance to live with dignity and security.

Economic empowerment, with access to relevant education and skills, is seen as central to this holistic vision. Without opportunities for stable employment and meaningful participation, young people risk becoming bystanders or even participants in cycles of conflict, rather than active builders of peace.

Gender also plays a crucial role. Young women like Hager face unique challenges that often limit their involvement in public and peacebuilding spaces. Addressing these disparities requires deliberate, gender-sensitive policies and programmes.

Social media adds another layer of complexity. While it can be a tool for connection and advocacy and provides Ethiopian youth with a window to the rest of the world, it can also be used to spread divisive narratives that can deepen ethnic tensions. Finding ways to encourage the positive and responsible use of digital platforms by young people is seen as essential to fostering peaceful coexistence and constructive dialogue within the wider population.

UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, Ms Charu Bist noted: “Young people have an invested interest and the necessary drive to help Ethiopia develop a clear vision of what peace could look like in communities.”

Hager’s story of resourcefulness and vulnerability is part of a larger narrative playing out across Ethiopia and the rest of Africa. Youth, peace and security form the three legs of a sturdy stool, essential to Ethiopia’s and the wider continent’s future stability.

The youth, peace and security policy-oriented assessment has been commissioned by UNDP for the Ministry of Women and Social Affairs (MoWSA) supported through resources from UNDP core partners.  

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