{"id":60519,"date":"2025-08-17T16:44:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T16:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/gebeyehu-urges-youths-to-champion-peace-in-igad-region"},"modified":"2025-08-17T17:20:53","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T17:20:53","slug":"gebeyehu-urges-youths-to-champion-peace-in-igad-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/gebeyehu-urges-youths-to-champion-peace-in-igad-region","title":{"rendered":"Gebeyehu Urges Youths to Champion Peace in IGAD Region"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) executive secretary Dr Workneh Gebeyehu has called on youths in the region to be the voice of peace.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking during the opening of the IGAD Youth Peace and Security Conference in Nairobi, Gebeyehu said that there can be no peace without young people.<\/p>\n<p>He stated that it is time for the active involvement of young people as partners in finding peace in the country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is no peace without the youth, and there\u2019s no youth without peace. The age of youth as passive beneficiaries is over. The age of youth as partners in peace has begun,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The Executive Secretary went on to urge representatives of the youth to use their capabilities to preserve and protect the interests of young people in the region.<\/p>\n<p>He cited the case of Sudan, where there is an ongoing conflict that has brought about a lot of suffering to the people.<\/p>\n<p>He, however, noted that as much as IGAD works to ensure peace is restored, the involvement of Sudanese youths is critical<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSilence will not help. We have to be the voice of the Sudanese people; this can happen to any country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs IGAD, we are working in soft and hard power and anything we can do to bring back peace and tranquillity in the region. I urge you to be peace ambassadors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gebeyehu further noted that through the Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism (CEWARN), the authority has empowered young people to become the eyes and ears of peace in their communities.<\/p>\n<p>He said CEWARN&#8217;s early warning systems have demonstrated that when youth are equipped with the right tools and trusted with responsibility, they become the most effective peacekeepers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom the bustling markets of Addis Ababa to the remote villages along the Sudan-South Sudan border, young peace monitors are providing real-time intelligence that prevents conflicts before they ignite,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He added that IGAD\u2019s achievements in countering violent extremism through the IGAD Centre of Excellence for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism stand as a testament to what is possible when trust is placed in the youth.<\/p>\n<p>Since its establishment in 2018, the centre has trained over 500 young community leaders in counter-messaging techniques, alternative narrative development, and community resilience building.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese young champions are not just recipients of our programs; they are the architects of innovative solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret Kiogora, CEO, President\u2019s Award, who represented the Sports and Youth Affairs Cabinet secretary Salim Mvurya, added that youth have evolved to become drivers of peace in the region.<\/p>\n<p>She noted that a lack of peace leads to a lack of development and jobs, but when fully supported, young people can bring lasting peace.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYouths are not just recipients of peace but drivers of it and development. Without peace, there is no development, no jobs, but when young people are supported, they create lasting peace,\u201d Kiogora said.<\/p>\n<p>The IGAD region is home to one of the youngest populations in the world, with youth under the age of 30 constituting over 60% of the total population.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Lesotho<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) executive secretary Dr Workneh Gebeyehu has called on youths in the region to be the voice of peace. Speaking during the opening of the IGAD Youth Peace and Security Conference in Nairobi, Gebeyehu said that there can be no peace without young people. He stated that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":60518,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[245],"class_list":["post-60519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Gebeyehu Urges Youths to Champion Peace in IGAD Region - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) executive secretary Dr Workneh Gebeyehu has called on youths in th ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/gebeyehu-urges-youths-to-champion-peace-in-igad-region\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gebeyehu Urges Youths to Champion Peace in IGAD Region\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) executive secretary Dr Workneh Gebeyehu has called on youths in th ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/gebeyehu-urges-youths-to-champion-peace-in-igad-region\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-17T16:44:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-17T17:20:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/08\/sm_1755434822.80337.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1066\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/gebeyehu-urges-youths-to-champion-peace-in-igad-region#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/gebeyehu-urges-youths-to-champion-peace-in-igad-region\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Gebeyehu Urges Youths to Champion Peace in IGAD Region\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-17T16:44:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-17T17:20:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/gebeyehu-urges-youths-to-champion-peace-in-igad-region\"},\"wordCount\":527,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/gebeyehu-urges-youths-to-champion-peace-in-igad-region#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/08\/sm_1755434822.80337.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/gebeyehu-urges-youths-to-champion-peace-in-igad-region#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/gebeyehu-urges-youths-to-champion-peace-in-igad-region\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/gebeyehu-urges-youths-to-champion-peace-in-igad-region\",\"name\":\"Gebeyehu Urges Youths to Champion Peace in IGAD Region - 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