Peace is personal; part of demystifying peacebuilding is recognising the agency of young people who are building and sustaining peace in their communities, and speaking up against injustices and acknowledging their role as peacebuilders. In this episode of the Peace Corner, Freya from UNOY Peacebuilders sat down with Anbid Zaman, LGBTQIA+ human rights activist, and discussed intersectionality, stereotypes and moving beyond binary gender identities in peacebuilding.

Peace, just like conflict, is highly gendered. Assumptions about who is peaceful and who is violent rely on stereotypes. Young peacebuilders come from different backgrounds, work on different issues, and have intersectional identities. Stereotypical assumptions about young people lead to the exclusion and discrimination of youth. In order to ensure their participation, we need to be aware of the structures that lead to their exclusion, open up spaces, and unite in solidarity with young people who cannot be in the room.

Music credit: 'Coffee Shopping' by Bruno Freitas, licensed under hooksounds.com.