MHPSS and Social Change: Youth Agency in Micro Peacebuilding

This session explores the transformative impact of the Students Peace Initiative in Eastern Africa, a region where a burgeoning youth population faces significant marginalization. Moving beyond traditional, rigid interventions, this program utilizes a bottom-up approach to foster local ownership and social cohesion. By engaging universities as incubators for change, the initiative empowers students to lead micro-level peacebuilding efforts that resonate within their specific local contexts.

Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Adaptive Peacebuilding, the session highlights how student-led networks shift participants from passive witnesses to active agents of change. Facilitators will demonstrate a ground-up methodology that prioritizes relationship-building across historical divides and integrates social healing into the peace process. Attendees will have the unique opportunity to directly interact with Students Peace Initiative regional leaders, gaining first-hand insights into how these decentralized, self-organizing networks act as catalysts for sustainable peacebuilding. Through these practical lessons and personal narratives, this demonstrates that empowering local agency is essential for dismantling cycles of conflict and building a lasting, locally owned social equilibrium.

Speakers: 

• Rowda Olad, Associate Director of MHCR, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution
• Antti Penttkainen, Professor of Practice , Executive Direct of MHCR Associate Director, MHCR Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution
• Dr. Cherie Bridges Patrick, Director of Maandeeq Mental Health