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Through projects in 10 countries, SFCG is committed to fostering the participation of youth as leaders for protection, peacebuilding, dialogue, and reconciliation in their own communities and countries: The Children and Youth Programmes of Search for Common Ground (SFCG) seek to transform the role of young people in conflicts so that they have concrete alternatives to violence and can significantly contribute to building sustainable peace. Young people have a significant impact on how national and local conflicts unfold. Not only are they victimized by direct abuses, but they are often direct participants in conflict as soldiers and ideologues. They are pulled into armies, rebel groups, militias, and gangs and are caught in cycles of violence that infiltrate their lives and outlast the wars of their parents. Yet many young people also clamor to avoid participating in violence by finding ways of contributing to their societies to play positive roles in their communities. Young people are, therefore, key to the resolution of societal conflicts and need to be engaged as important stakeholders. SFCG's programs work to engage youth who are at-risk of involvement in violence and to facilitate their participation in transforming the ways their societies deal with conflict. We do this through three operational methods: formal and non-formal education, platforms for them to have a voice in society, and opportunities for them to take concrete action in their communities. Search for Common Ground (Washington DC) |