Policy Brief: Talking Across Generations on Education; #TAGe Bujumbura: Youth, Social and Emotional Education and the Prevention of Violent Extremism

With the aim to mainstream the voices of Burundi youth and include them in the policymaking process in the areas of education for peace, sustainable development and global citizenship, UNESCO MGIEP, YELI-Burundi (Youth Empowerment and Leadership Initiative Burundi) and the Government of Burundi organised a series of high-level #TAGeBujumbura dialogues. These were an integral part of the Annual Prevention of Violent Extremism (PVE) Youth Blast, which was organised by YELI-Burundi on September 16-17, 2019 in Bujumbura, Burundi. H.E Everlyne Butoyi, Minister of Youth, IT and Posts, inaugurated the event. 

The theme of the main TAGe plenary was The Place of the Youth and Social and Emotional Learning for the Prevention of Violent Extremism – within the broader context of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2250.

This unique UNESCO MGIEP TAGe modality for actionable dialogue comprised the following components – month-long online discussions, live TAGe and actionable outputs. The preceding online discussion had over 1,000 participants, and witnessed rich discussion threads being compressed into insightful, actionable ideas. Subsequently, based on the online engagement and the on-ground work done, six representatives were chosen from these participants to represent the collective voices of the youth. They were joined by three distinguished senior decision-makers (from the Government of Burundi and civil society) in a live TAGe exchange, where they delved into issues and unearthed creative solutions in front of an audience of over 200.