WNCAC Meetings

Increasingly, the needs for youth to practicing and exercising authority over themselves and others have become more apparent. Many international organizations have elaborated upon the theory of youth development in which young people gain skills and knowledge necessary to lead civic engagement, education reform and community organizing activities as a way of curtailing youth bulge theory.

The conversations will be framed by:

Lakshitha Saji Prelis is one of the founding members and the Executive Director of the Center for Peace Building International and is also the coordinator of the Peace building & Development Institute at American University. He is currently involved in several peacebuilding, conflict resolution and coexistence initiatives both in the United States and abroad. Mr. Prelis was the technical editor of Reconciliation, Justice and Coexistence: Theory and Practice and co-author of Long Road to Reconciliation. He will introduce new trends in youth leadership in global perspectives with inferences from Cambodia and Sri-Lanka as a backdrop.

Oscar Bloh has more than 9 years of experience in project management, planning, implementation, and evaluation in Liberia and is currently the Country Director for Search for Common Ground in Liberia. Besides having a thorough understanding of the Liberian political landscape, he has been most successful in using a participatory approach in conflict resolution issues. Mr. Bloh’s will focus his presentation on “The Federation of Liberian Youth” (FLY) an umbrella for all youth organizations in Liberia and their quest for recognition and good leadership.

As always, the meeting will be a dialogue and will include one half hour for program discussion.

Notes from Previous Meetings
Please click here to view an archive of notes from previous WNCAC meetings.

About WNCAC
The Washington Network on Children in Armed Conflict, convened by Search for Common Ground and the Displaced Children and Orphans Fund of USAID, is an interdisciplinary and open community of practitioners and scholars, which shares information on the myriad issues affecting children in conflict. The group seeks to connect diverse actors from different sectors to promote information exchange on programming and policy issues, developments in the field, resources, and good practices. The Network has been meeting bi-monthly since July 2004.