Global Unites

Global Unites seeks to inspire, connect, and equip youth leaders to start and grow movements for conflict transformation. This initiative was born out of one of the world’s longest and bloodiest civil wars in Sri Lanka. Today, Global Unites has member organizations in D.R. Congo and Sri Lanka that have successfully launched and grown local youth movements for conflict transformation, a process that addresses the root causes of extremism. In June of 2015, Global Unites is planning to convene over 30 youth peacebuilders (age 19 to 35) from across 15 countries for an intensive summit in Sri Lanka. Global Unites will identify local youth leaders from ‘high-risk’ zones that are committed to conflict transformation through non-violent advocacy and social action. The summit will be an intensive training camp for delegates to become more effective at conflict transformation, and create national-level movements. Each delegate will be selected based on a proven record of youth leadership, innovation, and commitment to non-violent social action. Post-summit, Global Unites will serve as a backbone to support the local peacebuilding activities of the summit delegates. Global Unites will help connect its member movements to funding, training, and technical assistance that helps them launch or scale-up their local movements. By 2017, Global Unites aims to facilitate and support the launch of at least 4 new youth movements for conflict transformation from the countries represented, and help scale-up an additional 7 existing movements to a national level.