Paw Kha’s first phase began in November 2021 with a baseline survey in the target communities of Champajhiri Para, Lama, Alikadam, and Bandarban in Chittagong Hill Tracks (CHT), Bangladesh. In December, fellows convened 20 youth from the target communities for training on PVE and Compassionate Integrity. Following the training, the ALLY Fellows and 20 participants conducted an Art Camp and Cultural Fair, a celebration of cultural identity including dance performances from 6 different indigenous groups. 

Now in phase 2, the fellows are preparing the CHT youth participants to meet with local and national policymakers. Following training on communication and advocacy, the Paw Kha youth will engage with the Headman and Deputy Commissioner to discuss local conflict, and community needs, and map out the constructive roles they want to and are capable of playing to address the drivers of extremism. Just as the ALLY Fellows advocated for their roles to UN Women, the Paw Kha participants are now equipped to advocate for their own roles as peacebuilders at the national level.

Paw Kha, led by fellows Fahmid Khan, Farhana Shahnaz, Najia Jarin, and Sumaya Rahaman, seeks for more inclusive peacebuilding and reconciliation processes in Bangladesh, and as such serves as a perfect example of ALLY’s regional policy recommendation to promote transitional justice. ALLY4Gender, a new SAP that started in 2022, seeks to ensure the inclusivity of the SAPs themselves. 

ALLY4Gender is led by Priyatharshiny Vijayartanm, and Katha Ray, who are also implementing other SAPs. They created the extra initiative after observing through their own work, the work of other fellows, and in peacebuilding more widely the tendency to separate youth-led peacebuilding from peacebuilding that focuses on gender. This distinction is exemplified by the two UN Resolutions 2250 (Youth4Peace) and 1250 (Women, Peace and Security). Through research into other organizations working on this nexus and working with the other ALLY SAP teams, ALLY4Gender explores whether the gender issue is subsumed within the youth-led peacebuilding processes. The team is sharing their insights with other SAPs and as such functions as an internal accountability tool as fellows promote inclusivity externally. 

The ALLY Fellows also had another advocacy message for UN Women. Just as their SAPs worked to ensure inclusive participation – of minority CHT tribes in local politics and of women in youth-focused peacebuilding – so too should governments and policymaking organizations such as the UN institutionalize youth participation. Youth-led peacebuilding and PVE efforts cannot be considered in isolation from other ways in which youth engage with the government. 

Fellows are also spreading this message at the national level, as ALLY staff assists them in conducting national advocacy missions in July and August 2022. Meanwhile, their SAP work continues this summer.