Between 19–21 December 2025, Monrovia became a continental hub for youth-led policy dialogue as Messengers of Peace–Liberia Inc., in collaboration with the African Union Commission’s Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security (PAPS) and the PCRD Centre, hosted the inaugural Regional Youth Strategy Forum on Peacebuilding and the Right to Development.
The gathering reflected the African Union’s growing emphasis on the Right to Development as a strategic pillar within the 2024 revised Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD) Policy. In post-conflict societies such as Liberia, development is no longer treated as a parallel agenda to peacebuilding but as its structural foundation.
To translate policy into action, the Forum was paired with a Quick Impact Project—the complete renovation of Kpor Town Public School. This intervention underscored a central thesis of the convening: sustainable peace must produce visible, community-level dividends.
Youth delegates from Djibouti, South Sudan, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Cameroon, and all fifteen counties of Liberia engaged in comparative dialogue on reintegration, governance, and development-centered peace strategies. Participants examined AU frameworks, including the revised PCRD Policy (2024), and explored mechanisms to localize continental instruments within national realities.
The Forum strengthened the operational link between development rights and conflict prevention, equipping young leaders with practical tools for advocacy, policy engagement, and implementation at both domestic and regional levels.
Organizers expressed appreciation to the African Union Commission—particularly PAPS under H.E. Commissioner Bankole Adeoye—for its institutional confidence, as well as to the PCRD Centre and the Government of Liberia, through the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Education, for their collaboration and support.
