Creating Collective Spaces & Amplifying Youth Voices for Peace
How USAID works with Youth to reduce social conflict and increase peacebuilding in the Western Highlands.
Vibrant cultural roots and ancestral knowledge of its indigenous K’iche’ population run deep in the picturesque mountains in the department of Quiché in Guatemala. But behind its beautiful and colorful landscapes, the young people of Chichicastenango face significant challenges, including social and emotional isolation, economic hardship, limited professional opportunities and pressure to provide for their families. The pandemic exacerbated all these challenges.
The obstacles facing young people aren’t limited to just Chichicastenango. In rural municipalities across the Western Highlands of Guatemala, young people are struggling to find a sustainable future for themselves and their families.
“My community has been characterized by a lack of unity. We do not know each other beyond our faces,” says Hillary Dayana Pérez Bautista from Huehuetenango. “This disunity creates spaces of marginalization. So, when problems escalate, we don't even realize them.”
When these challenges meet threats of violence or ongoing conflict embedded in the community’s social fabric, risks compound and young people are much more likely to look for opportunities elsewhere. Many often attempt – and indeed, fail—to make the dangerous journey to the U.S. border, a trend that has increased in recent years.
Fortunately, there is hope for change.
Bautista is part of a network of some 160 young people throughout the Western Highlands involved with the Youth Voices for Peace Network (known as Red de Voceros y Voceras Juveniles para la Paz in Spanish), a group working to create collective spaces.
USAID Guatemala
USAID Guatemala
Bringing together young people from across the country from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and traditions—people that normally wouldn’t have the opportunity to interact—Youth Voices for Peace Network then works with these young people to build capacity, develop confidence, and connect on issues that have an impact on their future.
It has also proven to be transformational for people like Cesar Morales, 27, from Chichicastenango, who joined the network in September 2021 and found incredible value in the exchange of ideas and lived experiences with other members.
“Being part of the network has allowed me to share dynamic spaces and exchange knowledge, experiences, and information with young leaders in other municipalities, many of whom have developed abilities and skills to share both their concerns and proposals to make a difference in their communities,” Morales says.
USAID Guatemala
The youth network has grown its activities with the support from the Peacebuilding Project, or Tejiendo Paz in Spanish, a 6.5-year project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by Creative Associates International in partnership with PartnersGlobal and ProPaz.
With their support, Youth Voices for Peace Network takes a multifaceted approach to peacebuilding, requiring active participation from network members and including them in dialogues and decision-making, while also working on capacity building. Training topics include conflict transformation, using technology for effective communication, the risks of irregular migration, and different forms of communication, among others.
USAID Guatemala
Using theater and social media as avenues of cultural and artistic expression, members of the network are encouraged to share their acquired knowledge with others in their community.
“Now I feel confident to be able to guide other young people in this process, so that together we can create a positive impact in our communities,” says Gaspar Baltazar, a network youth member from Totonicapán, explaining how his participation helped him grow as a community leader.
From Totonicapán to Huehuetenango to Chichicastenango, the Youth Voices for Peace Network is providing rural youth with tangible skills and opportunities, creating hope for a better future in Guatemala.
USAID is committed to working with the Government of Guatemala, civil society, and local communities to reduce social conflict and violence, and increase social cohesion and peacebuilding in the Western Highlands region.
Credits:
Creative Associates International