It was an unprecedented and historic moment that unfolded in Bangladesh on 5 August 2024 when Prime Minister Sheik Hasina hastily fled the country in a military helicopter. The protesters had demonstrated in the streets for several weeks, and that moment marked a ‘second independence’. This was not an independence from a foreign country or… Read more »
Tag: youth
Thai Elections Mark Declining Public Interest in Nationalism, Patronage Politics
This week’s election results handed a surprising victory to the opposition Move Forward Party. While it remains to be seen if the conservative establishment will allow them to actually take power, the vote signals a turning point in the mindset of the Thai public. The Thai political map is now painted with orange, the colour… Read more »
Fewer Children Affected by Conflict, but Conflict Intensity Is on the Rise
Today Save the Children launches its new report Stop the War on Children: The Forgotten Ones. The report is based on PRIO’s sixth annual mapping of children in armed conflict covering the period 1990-2021.
Protection of Education in Conflict Zones – a Step in the Right Direction
On Friday October 30, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution on the protection of education in conflict zones. This is one of the most important matters on which Norway has facilitated negotiations in the Security Council and the resolution is a major step in the right direction for protecting the right of the most… Read more »
Agents of Change? How to fulfill the promise of education to refugees
Education in situations of conflict and crisis is central in efforts to protect children and youth in the near-term and fostering peaceful coexistence over the longer-term. But how can education enable individuals and communities to build durable futures when there is great uncertainty about where these futures will be? Education can offer crucial stability and… Read more »
Using a Comic to Tell the True Story of the Uffo Struggle for Justice in Somaliland
We can all learn and draw inspiration from stories of ordinary people who care for others and resist oppression while risking their own lives. Such stories are often overlooked in both the media and in much research on conflict zones.
‘It should change’: Young people on skin colour and national belonging in Norway
The fight against racism and discrimination cannot be won without the silent, non-targeted, majorities’ active contribution and participation – recognizing one another as equal human beings, but significantly also going beyond this, to call out and change the structures and practices that prevent real equality. This is true whether we look to the US, in… Read more »
A Youth Perspective on Youth Participation and Inclusion in the Middle East
Can we improve democracy and promote peace by becoming better at including youth and create spaces for youth participation in political processes? Last week I had the great honor of representing Norwegian youth on a panel discussion about this very topic during a seminar hosted by PRIO during the royal state visit to Jordan. The panel included PRIO Director Henrik Urdal,… Read more »
Education and Systematic Group Inequalities in Nigeria
On the night between 14 and 15 April, 2014, 276 girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram from their school in Chibok in Borno State in Northeastern Nigeria. The Islamist terrorist group does not believe that girls should attend school, and these girls were targeted precisely because they were in school. However, conservative views on gender and education is only one reason why many girls in… Read more »
Somalia’s Hope for the Future? The Return of Young Diaspora Somalis
The Somali conflict has affected Somali citizens inside and outside the Somali region for over 25 years. While Somaliland and Puntland have enjoyed relative stability for more than two decades, conditions are much more fragile in south-central Somalia, and residents in many parts of the Somali region face considerable levels of insecurity still. In late… Read more »