The Young Women Peacebuilders (YWP) Programme in the Arab region

Sustainable peace requires women’s full and meaningful participation in conflict prevention, resolution, and peacebuilding efforts. Young women across the Arab States are already playing active roles in their communities and in crisis settings, bringing critical perspectives, innovative approaches, and a strong commitment to inclusive solutions in the field of peace and security.

The Young Women Peacebuilders (YWP) Programme, launched in 2021, is a regional initiative jointly implemented by UN Women’s Regional Office for the Arab States and the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut (AUB). The programme engages young women as active contributors to peace, governance, and social change, with a focus on strengthening their leadership in complex and conflict-affected contexts.

Through structured learning, engagement with practitioners, and collaborative exchange, the Programme supports participants in developing practical skills in peacebuilding, mediation, advocacy, and policy engagement. It also fosters cross-border learning and peer solidarity, enabling participants to build lasting networks beyond the duration of the programme.

Since its launch, the Programme has successfully delivered three cohorts in 2021, 2023, and 2025, establishing itself as a key regional platform for advancing young women’s leadership in peace and security.

The YWP Programme is guided by the following objectives:

• Establish a regional community of young women engaged in peace and security work.
• Strengthen understanding of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) agendas and their relevance to national and community-level peacebuilding.
• Enhance participants’ ability to analyze conflict through multiple theoretical lenses using feminist, political, and strategic approaches, and by applying conflict resolution models.^[1]
• Equip participants to design collaborative peacebuilding initiatives, including stakeholder mapping, identifying root causes of conflict and barriers to peace, and producing policy-oriented recommendations grounded in SMART^[2]
• Promote peer learning through experience sharing, reflection, and cross-country collaboration.
• Provide access to mediation experts, practitioners, and policy actors, and facilitate mentorship and professional networking opportunities.

Delivery Modality

The Programme is delivered online, enabling participation from across the Arab States. It adopts a blended learning approach combining live sessions, independent study, and collaborative group work.

The Young Women Peacebuilders Network

Participation in the YWP Programme marks the beginning of continued engagement. Graduates become part of Young Women Peacebuilders Network, established by UN Women and Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs in 2023.

The Network supports ongoing learning and collaboration by connecting young women across the region who are working on peace and security. It provides a platform for knowledge exchange, peer support, and engagement with innovative approaches to reconciliation, conflict transformation, and prevention.

 Currently comprising around 120 members, the Network continues to grow as a regional community advancing inclusive and women-led processes.

Donor Recognition

This initiative is part of the “Enhancing Women’s Leadership for Sustainable Peace in Fragile Contexts in the MENA region” programme, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in cooperation with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

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[1] https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/nash-game/#:~:text=Game%20theory%20studies%20interactive%20decision%2Dmaking%
2C%20where%20the,take%20into%20account%20the%20choices%20of%20others

[2] SMART goals stand for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.