A special conference is taking place in Belfast next month looking at the role of children and young people in peacebuilding.
The PEACE IV ‘Future Peacebuilders – My Future of NI’ conference will be held in The MAC Belfast on Tuesday 8 March (9.30am-12.30pm).
Keynote speaker is Dr Michael McGill, Founding Director of Young Peacebuilders. Young Peacebuilders is devoted to helping more young people become more effective peacebuilders. According to the organisation, children and youth encounter many roadblocks hindering their peacebuilding potential and it works to remove these roadblocks and build bridges to strengthen peacebuilding capacity.
The conference will also feature a panel discussion of local youth representatives including members of the Belfast City Youth Forum.
The conference is one of Belfast City Council’s PEACE IV events. The PEACE IV Local Action Plan has been funded through the European Union’s PEACE IV Programme, which is managed by The Special EU Programmes Body. Match-funding has been provided by the Executive Office in Northern Ireland and the Department of Rural and Community Development in Ireland.
Councillor John Kyle, Chair of the Council’s Shared City Partnership, said: “I’m really looking forward to this special conference in the city in March which will show how children and young people have such an important role to play in peacebuilding in our society. Children and young people is one of the key themes or areas of our PEACE IV programme which aims to enhance positive relations across Belfast.
“We have a great line-up of speakers including members of our Belfast City Youth Forum. The event is also free.”
You can register to attend the event on the council website at https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/Events/Peace-IV-Children-and-Young-People-Conference or https://plannd.co.uk/peaceivchildrenyoungpeopleconference/
More information on Belfast PEACE IV is available at www.belfastcity.gov.uk/PEACEIV
