The UNESCO MGIEP #YouthWagingPeace guidebook was launched by the Director-General of UNESCO at its 39th General Conference, 2017. The guidebook is a culmination of reaching out to 2000+ youth and integrating 130+ submissions from 57 countries.

In the original #YouthWagingPeace publication, the team had compiled action guidelines from each chapter and for every stakeholder and published them at the beginning of the guide. The team wanted them to be easily accessible for anyone interested in taking action to prevent violent extremism through education.

The guidebook was well received. From all copies going within a flash during the launch in UNESCO HQ to the ongoing #YouthWagingPeace social media campaign. Diplomat, and former candidate of Lebanon for the post of Director-General of UNESCO, Ms Vera El Khoury Lacoeuilhe called it, ‘’the best publication on #violentextremism I have seen so far. #YouthWagingPeace should be translated and distributed widely.’’ Nobel Peace Prize Winner, 2011, Ms Tawakkol Karman summed it by saying, “In a world where young people are largely seen as either the victims or perpetrators of violent extremism. What could be a better or more thunderous statement other than a youth-led guide on prevention of violent extremism through education?” The response from youth and education stakeholders worldwide has been phenomenal.

To further promote the accessibility of these key guidelines, UNESCO MGIEP is pleased to release this abridged version of the publication, highlighting strategies for implementation and immediate action. In the #YouthWagingPeace - Action Guidelines for Prevention of Violent Extremism, stakeholders will find a curated set of critical ideas and lessons gleaned from the full guide, designed to be as accessible as possible. We hope that teachers, parents, mentors, school administrators, policymakers, and anyone else committed to realizing positive change will find the abridged version an effective resource for guiding immediate and effective actions in their communities.

Here is a quick sneak preview of how a stakeholder might use the #YouthWagingPeace - Action Guidelines for PVE/E :

• A teacher can refer to the action guidelines for identifying and developing classroom activities that help build student resilience to indoctrination and radicalization.
• A family member or a guardian can refer to the action guidelines for stepby-step guidelines that support creating more effective communication between themselves, their children, and their children’s schools.
• A religious leader can refer to the action guidelines for initiating, designing and implementing interfaith and intra-faith activities.
• A school administrator can refer to the action guidelines for creating and enabling a school environment that encourages the holistic growth of students, teachers, and the wider school community
• A policymaker can refer to the action guidelines to design teacher training workshops and communitywide engagement initiatives for building a more well-informed and collaborative community. 
• A youth can refer to the action guidelines to learn what their peers are doing around the globe and seek inspiration for designing their own training sessions and activities.

The French version of abridged publication was launched ahead of its time on 27 April 2018 in Montreal, Canada in collaboration with our Canadian partners, the Center for Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence.

Now, we are bringing #YouthWagingPeace (main guidebook and action guidelines) to New Delhi based education stakeholders. If you are a New Delhi based teacher; school administrator; parent; religious leader, or a young person interested in the prevention of violent extremism through education; do you want to know how a game of football, collective community literature project, inclusive textbook and availability of national exams in different languages could prevent violent extremism? We invite you to the India launch of #YouthWagingPeace guidebook and Action Guidelines for the Prevention of Violent Extremism, to be held on 25 May 2018 at Jacaranda, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

The launch event will be preceded by an intensive three days capacity-building workshop that will aim to train 25 young leaders from India and selected countries who will go on and train education stakeholders (teachers, parents, school administrators, religious leaders, policymakers, students and youth) in the area of prevention of violent extremism through education. The UNESCO MGIEP’s YESPeace partners’ meeting will also be taking place simultaneously with YouthWagingPeace workshop. The International Youth Campaign on Kindness will be announced at the launch event.

Register here:  https://bit.ly/2IHympL

Save the date! 25 May 2018, 9 am onwards.

Save the venue! Jacaranda, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

Follow the hashtag #YouthWagingPeace. Come and grab your free copies of both the main #YouthWagingPeace guidebook and the action guidelines.

For more information contact:

Mr Simon Kuany – s.kuany@unesco.org

Mr Adithya Pillai – a.pillai@unesco.org

Ms Radhika Bhatnagar  - r.bhatnagar@unesco.org