Youth represent the largest generation in human history, with 1.22 billion individuals aged 15–24 worldwide in 2025. The majority, almost 90 percent, live in developing countries, with over 23 percent in Africa alone. Across Sub Saharan Africa, nearly 200 million youths are poised between adolescence and maturity, a number expected to grow to almost 300 million by 2030. This demographic boom carries immense potential and peril. Where opportunities are scarce, disillusionment festers; where support is robust, youth can build resilient societies. It is no longer just a numbers game; it is a question of whether this generation will inherit peace or conflict, prosperity or stagnation.
Africa’s youth under 35 already exceed 400 million and are projected to reach over 600 million by 2030, representing more than 60 percent of the continent’s population. Each year, some 12 million young Africans enter the labour market, yet only around 3 million formal jobs are created. This alarming gap leaves the majority of youth without stable employment, exacerbating inequality and exposing them to the allure of violent extremism. Youth unemployment stands at nearly 12.9 percent on average across the continent, with informal employment absorbing over 80 percent of young workers. In such conditions, feelings of alienation and frustration are ripe, increasing the vulnerability of youth to radicalisation and political manipulation.
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When Youth Become Catalysts of Conflict
Countries such as Mali, the Central African Republic, Somalia, and Nigeria are hotspots where demographic youth bulges collide with political instability, poverty, and religious or ethnic tension. In some regions, young people are recruited by extremist groups, seeing violence as their only route to recognition or survival. In northern Nigeria, youth disaffected by widespread poverty and inequality have fed Boko Haram’s ranks. In Somalia, informal militias such as the Ma’awisley, comprising primarily of young men, have emerged to resist the militant group Al-Shabaab. In the Central African Republic, young combatants have been active in anti-Balaka and Seleka militias, underscoring how easily disenfranchised youth can be drawn into conflict when legitimate pathways to progress are absent.
When Youth Become Builders of Peace
Yet these same youth, when engaged positively, have proven to be catalysts for stabilisation. In Nigeria, UNFPA’s support of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development helped launch the National Action Plan on Youth, Peace, and Security in six pilot states. This initiative, part of the global implementation of UNSCR 2250, brought youth-led coalitions into strategic governance roles. By January 2024 the minister reported that Nigerian youth, representing ten percent of the global youth population, were helping to reshape national discourse on peacebuilding.
In Somalia, a joint World Bank-UN study mapped youth-led peacebuilding efforts, advocating an operational model that integrates young women and men into local conflict response frameworks, moving beyond employment to meaningful participation. The Ma’awisley, armed by communities to protect territories from Al Shabab, played a crucial defensive role in El Buur in early 2025, disrupting militant strongholds.
In the Central African Republic, the 2015 Bangui National Forum, a national reconciliation platform, achieved the release of 357 child soldiers within a week of promising disarmament and reintegration. It brought together armed youth factions, religious leaders, and civil society to draft a peace pact, symbolising hope for a society where youth lead reconciliation.
Patriarchy, Culture, and Structural Exclusion
Despite these successes, deep-seated cultural and patriarchal systems often marginalise youth in peace processes. Youth are rarely invited to policy tables, and religious hierarchies often dismiss their perspectives as immature. Across East and Southern Africa, UN Women’s Africa Youth Steering Committee warns that the youth bulge risks becoming a “time bomb” unless channels for constructive engagement are created. Structural exclusion, particularly along gender lines, undermines inclusive peace and silences potential agents of transformation.
Peace and security frameworks exist, but implementation gaps persist. At the global level, UN Security Council Resolution 2250 (2015) represents the first thematic resolution to affirm youth as central to peacebuilding. It emphasises five pillars: participation, protection, prevention, partnerships, and disengagement and reintegration. It was followed by Resolution 2419 (2018), which calls for inclusive representation of youth in peace negotiations, and Resolution 2535 (2020), which reinforces the need to mainstream youth across all peace and security efforts.
Africa’s regional counterpart, the African Union’s Agenda 2063, commits to eliminating systemic inequalities that marginalise youth and embedding youth priorities in all national and continental planning. The African Youth Charter, adopted in 2006 and operationalised through the African Plan of Action for Youth Empowerment (APAYE), also offers a comprehensive policy platform for youth inclusion. In practice, however, implementation remains inconsistent. Only 38 out of 55 African Union member states have ratified the Youth Charter as of 2024, reflecting uneven political commitment.
Building Youth Led Ecosystems of Peace
Youth peacebuilders do not emerge spontaneously from foreign-funded workshops. They flourish in ecosystems that combine mentorship, deliberate inclusion, and funding. In West Africa, UNESCO-supported networks like the Panafrican Youth Network for a Culture of Peace (PAYNCoP) connect youth actors across borders; in Cameroon, LOYOC bridges grassroots education and regional collaboration. Nigeria’s national steering committees exemplify how youth-led coalitions can integrate with federal governance structures.
In Kenya, youth organisations such as Sauti Ya Vijana have engaged in community reconciliation efforts following post-election violence. In Sudan, despite civil conflict, youth-led media platforms like Beam Reports have played a key role in documenting human rights abuses and advocating for peace through digital storytelling.
Critical Analysis and Path Forward
Several contradictions emerge. When youth are structurally integrated, as seen in Nigeria’s youth action plan, they contribute meaningfully to reconciliation. But in fragile settings such as CAR, peace mechanisms often exclude local youth, creating cycles of relapse. The Ma’awisley case in Somalia shows that, in the absence of formal inclusion, youth may turn to informal militias, reinforcing peace locally but risking accountability and long-term stability.
Young Africans are not tomorrow’s promise; they are today’s actors. Their demographic weight, innovative energy, and capacity for collective action position them uniquely as agents of peace. But without structural inclusion, through adoption of UNSCR 2250, implementation of Agenda 2063 mandates, and formation of youth led governance structures, youth remain on the fringes of policymaking and peacebuilding.
