Heba
Through the research study conducted by the Shubab Bila Hudud organization for Development, which focused on the youth's vision for peacebuilding in Yemen, young people consistently expressed a significant aspect that represents an ongoing threat to peace and security - their exclusion from meaningful civil and political participation. This exclusion is often rooted in a lack of trust in them as "inexperienced" youth, and consequently, a lack of political will to address their exclusion and marginalization of their active role in the political process. This has directly impacted their level of awareness in practicing civil life and how to obtain their rights through civil means. This is evidenced by the study's findings, which showed that 21% of young people said that the lack of youth awareness is a fundamental factor for their engagement in battlefronts, which occurred as a result of the absence of youth participation in political and civil life.
The study noted the youth's belief that "the most challenging aspect lies in not providing sufficient space for creativity and participation in building society, which is reflected in the collaborative work of building an advanced civil state in all fields.
The absence of that leads young people to demand the achievement of justice, using the methods and means they deem appropriate to obtain real and fair opportunities. Therefore, young people are demanding that the government direct the official media to raise the awareness of young people and encourage them to participate civically and politically. Similarly, local authorities should direct the official media, mosque preachers, and other media outlets to raise young people's awareness of their role in society and encourage their participation in civic, community, and political activities. Raising the awareness of young people is an important factor in increasing their civic participation. Therefore, local and international organizations working in Yemen should adopt activities and projects that work to raise the awareness and build the capacities of young people, resulting in increased civic, social, and political participation. International and donor agencies should also fund projects that enhance the awareness and build the capacities of young people, contributing to increased civic and political participation. On the other hand, the engagement of young people in the battlefronts has dire consequences for young people and their future, one of the most dangerous of which is the psychological state of young people.
Acknowledging the impact of conflict on the psychological well-being of youth is a necessary requirement for designing and developing more effective interventions. This means going beyond the existing discussion on the biomedical descriptions of trauma (anxiety, depression, etc.), which have limited capacity to address the social rift that occurs when a society faces a collective trauma, where the resulting culture becomes one in which most young people have been engaged in the frontlines and exposed to great psychological pressures, making their reintegration with their communities difficult. Reintegration is a fertile ground for this aspect, where programs need to be developed to contribute to better reintegration, leading to the reinforcement of social cohesion within the community. Therefore, young people are demanding that the government improve the performance of centers and hospitals that provide therapeutic services or psychological or rational support, and develop phased plans and strategies for the reintegration of young people engaged in the conflict. The local and international civil society needs to design and implement projects that improve the psychological well-being of young people, whether through direct psychological support projects or projects related to improving psychological well-being such as sports and arts. They also need to develop guidelines and tools in this field. Donor agencies should include psychological and rational support projects in their programs in Yemen, as well as provide technical and financial support to the centers that provide these services.
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