The Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS) Program at AC4 will be launching a new research initiative in October in Medellin, Colombia, in partnership with the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, and a local organization, Son Batá. The project will explore social meanings on human security. There are many perspectives around the meaning of human security in Medellin…. read more

Along with the Youth, Peace, and Security program director, Dr. Beth Fisher-Yoshida, program coordinator, Joan Camilo Lopez, facilitated a Systems Thinking and Dynamical Systems Theory (DST) workshop with youth community leaders at Comuna 5, Medellin last February.  The explicit objectives of this workshop were to explore, together with local leaders in Castilla, the dynamics of… read more

In conjunction with the School of Professional Studies, we formally launched the Youth, Peace and Security Leadership Program on Wednesday, April 3rd in the Columbia Journalism School’s Pulitzer Hall. The evening included a keynote address by Jayathma Wickramanayake, the UN Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth, who emphasized the importance of programs such as ours in advancing… read more

Why Focus on Youth? At 1.8 billion, young people are not only our future, but our undeniable present, critical partners to realizing sustainable peace.  Young people, long-perceived as either victims or perpetrators of violence, are now increasingly viewed as positive agents of change, peacebuilders in their own right. There is a critical need to find… read more

So-called marginal communities find ways to deal with conflicts, as well as, respond to structures of violence and systematic oppression. These responses can take the form of organized leadership that sets in motion strategies of affirmative and collective action. Case in point, are the comunas of Medellin, Colombia. Built during the late 1940’s, 50’s and… read more

Just like plants depend on their entire environment that surrounds them in order to flourish and thrive so too does sustainable peace. Both need an environment that suits their needs, and yes, their aspirations. Plants need water, sunlight, carbon dioxide, space, etc. And, in turn, water needs oxygen and hydrogen, space needs time, and so… read more

Friday, Sept 28, 10am-12pm | RSVP Launch of the full version of The Missing Peace: Independent Progress Study on Youth, Peace and Security | Ministerial side-event to the 73rd session of the General Assembly AC4 was part of the Steering Committee for and proudly contributed a case study to The Progress Study, which documents young… read more

Two activities marked the summer of the Youth, Peace and Security program here. They are two parallel activities that emanate from the same idea: a Social Laboratory. Our program is currently executing a city-wide social lab (Social Lab Medellin), and a localized one in the northwest region of the city, in comuna 5, Castilla (Social… read more

Joan Lopez is coordinator of the Youth, Peace and Security Program, working in Medellín, Colombia with youth leaders, youth organizations and AC4 team to foster and share learning on community building initiatives and to develop a youth learning network. Lopez is particularly interested in understanding the role of art in youth resistance movements and its relation to… read more

Working shoulder to shoulder, in partnership, with grassroots organizations has always been the essence of the Youth Peace and Security Program. During the first week of November, the YPS team, Dr. Beth Fisher-Yoshida, Dr. Aldo Civico and Joan C. Lopez, traveled to Medellin, Colombia to hold strategic meetings with partners on the ground, and to… read more