Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Assistance Mission for Iraq (Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAMI) ¨C the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's special political mission for Iraq ¨C has been working closely with the government to create a favourable environment for inclusive national dialogue. The country's youth and universities have a critical role to play in this regard not just as stakeholders, but as partners in the process of national reconciliation.
Towards this end, in January 2017, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAMI inaugurated the Iraq: Youth and Coexistence forums in eight cities across the country. In partnership with an Iraqi civil society organization: the Al Amal Association, and in dialogue with major universities, the mission selected a cross-section of youth including university students, unemployed youth and young professionals in eight cities to participate in town hall-format discussions. The discussions were aimed at gauging not just the aspirations of the youth and how they envisioned Iraq after the defeat of ISIL, but also at gathering ideas for strengthening the infrastructure for peace in Iraq. To enable the further exchange of ideas after the forum, the mission has also created a social media platform where participants can continue the conversation.
One in five Iraqis is now a college-age youth (i.e. between 15 and24 years of age). Unsurprisingly, a resurgence of youth activism has been noted over the past two years, as networks of youth in the country have mobilized people for weekly anti-corruption protests in several provincial capitals. Leveraging social media, these youth networks have put forth demands for reform in the country's judiciary and electoral bodies. The dialogue among these youth networks about governance reform has been marked by patriotic and non-sectarian narratives.
Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ has monitored these debates with interest. Iraqi universities have a long history of being arenas for intellectual and ideological debate. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ outreach to civil society in Iraq has included outreach to university faculties and student representatives. But the emergence of non-sectarian youth volunteer groups and youth networks that coordinate through social media ¨C notwithstanding political volatility ¨C has created a new sense of opportunity for all actors invested in peace. Against this background, the United Nations seeks to ensure that the ideas generated by youth complement political discussions on national reconciliation, and in the process contribute to achieving lasting peace and stability in Iraq.