Human Rights, Peace, and Conflict Mobilization of Youth

Introduction

The world today has become very restless with conflict and violence affecting almost every part of the world. After 9/11, the situation worsened with the military engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq creating further tension and uncertainty. The powerful nations spend a huge amount of money on military expenditure with global military expenditure and arms trade costing approximately US$780 billion per year.

Several millions young people in the world are currently displaced by armed conflict. Many of them are exposed to violence, try to survive in acute poverty, and are separated from their families and communities. These young people often face the additional barriers of a lack of sufficient education, health care, protection, livelihood opportunities, recreational activities, friendship, and family support. However, to be realistic, we cannot hope to solve the conflicts of the world, prevent the wars of tomorrow, and ensure progress for perpetuity. This is no excuse for inaction. Today, the silent majority of the world consists of young people, and they remain silent because of the weight of apathy and ignorance. The goal in peace building and the prevention or transformation of conflict and building a Culture of Peace should be to promote the active participation of youth in the society and the nation. We should also seek to actively rectify and promote a healthy image of youth participation in public policy discussion in the country, and dispel the notion of youth apathy.

There is a firm believe that it is only through the acknowledgement of a common humanity that progress towards solving the ailments of the globe can begin. Everyone must actively encourage young compatriots of our nation to cast off apathy, and join peace building efforts. For youth to be able to really prevent conflict, first they have to be in peace within themselves and in peace with fellow brothers and sisters; this is the first step to preach peace and prevent conflict. Ideally speaking the Leaders must know what is right and the youth to know the truth. But what in reality it is seen and find is just the reverse; the leaders do not know what is right and by neglecting the youth are not promoting peace building. Leaders use innocent youth, to create war, civil unrest, and disturbances because of their selfish and devilish acts. There is great need to write about poverty and joblessness of youth which is part of why so many youth fall victim of bad leaders.

This is the time privileged youth, who attend or take part in conferences need to come out, inform, and educate other youth, from the urban to the rural areas of the country. The role of youth is the immediate action affecting the less privileged youth. Immediate actions including: organizing educational programs for other youth, and most especially youth in the refugee camps in the host countries. Programs on poverty eradication and also the development projects and uprising skill schemes for youth should be organized locally to pass the message to youth to avoid taking money, and other things from leaders, who in turn will be used by the leaders to create conflict in their community in particular and their country in general. A face to face campaign will also assist in preaching peace building and conflict transformation.

Therefore, transnational interdependence, different forms of power and complexity in the international system make definitions of power and interest, and consequent forecasts, far less reliable than in the past. One can expect that we will face a combination of the increasing importance of international institutions together with an interaction of balances of different types of power, often split into sub-systems. In this world of differentiated and sometimes fragmented powers, the conflict heterogeneity of values, i.e., the so-called ‘clash of civilizations’, will make the evaluation and forecast of crises and conflicts even more difficult.

The Main Causes Of Disruption

Peace can be threatened at the international, national, regional and/or community level, so naturally the reasons for the disruption of peace are numerous, diverse and most often complicated. However, some of the main causes can include:

• 1.

  Prolonged suppression and injustice to people;

• 2.

  Religious, ethnic and cultural conflict;

• 3.

  Political instability and corruption;

• 4.

  Poverty;

• 5.

  Lack of education and knowledge;

• 6.

  Unemployment/Underemployment;

• 7.

  Drug abuse and deadly diseases such as HIV/AIDS;

• 8.

  Declining moral values.