What Does Peace Mean To You? – a Panel Discussion and Interactive Workshop of Youth Perspectives on Peace

What does peace mean to young people today? How is it experienced, imagined, challenged, or redefined across different contexts and lived realities?

This interactive event brings together students, academics, and members of The Hague’s NGO community to explore youth perspectives on peace through open dialogue and collective reflection. The aim is to create a space where young people can express their understanding of peace in their own words, while fostering meaningful exchange between youth and practitioners working in peacebuilding and related fields.

The programme will begin with a short mind-mapping exercise, inviting participants to reflect on their personal associations with peace. This will be followed by a panel discussion featuring young speakers from diverse backgrounds, including individuals with lived experience of conflict and displacement. After the panel, participants will join smaller group discussions to share reflections, exchange perspectives, and engage more deeply with the themes raised throughout the evening.

The event will conclude with a final reflection activity, where participants will revisit the question “What does peace mean to you?” and consider how their understanding may have evolved through dialogue and shared experiences. Insights gathered during the event will later be shared with organisations across The Hague’s NGO community to support more meaningful youth engagement in peacebuilding work.

Speakers:

• Alla Khuseyn is a Climate and Energy Law master’s student at the University of Groningen and the founder of ROK Magazine, a Kurdish digital magazine. She is expected to share her perspectives and experiences relating to peace, resistance, and culture within the diaspora.
• Gregory Fonseca is a Master of Public International Law student at Leiden University. He may speak about his experiences joining the Ukrainian military, as well as teaching international law to soldiers.
• Ahmed Idriss is a Master student at Rotterdam University, and the co-founder of SudanConnect. He may be sharing his experiences related to the war in Sudan, and humanitarian efforts.