Throughout the world right now youth are taking to the streets in order to have the their voices here and Nepal is no different. Â Currently there are many political youth organizations, such as Youth Force or the Youth Communist League, that are asking their members to fight for the political parties agenda. Â One way they are doing this is by enforcing bandhs which are forced closures of the streets and shops on different days. These groups intimidate the people here in Kathmandu if they try to venture out during the bandh. Â Their was suppose to be one yesterday here in Kathmandu which did not happen, however we did see many armed police standing on the streets in riot gear ready to go if need be. Â On one hand it troubles me to see that often the only way in which youth feel they will be heard is through violence and intimitation but on the other hand while I was looking at the police holding their rifles I can understand where the idea comes from.
A previous bandh in Nepal
Then we met with a wonderful organization, Alliance for Peace who opened my eyes to the opportunities the youth of Nepal have to take up the reigns of peace building in their own country. Â The president of Alliance for Peace explain to us that the goal of the organization is to strengthen and support the role of young people in peace building while teaching conflict resolution strategies. Â I found their work remarkable because of their dedication to influence the youth of Nepal to become the peace builders by opening up dialogue between the different groups and encouraging the youth to work together. Â I very much look forward to researching further the roles youth are playing in the peace building process here in the different districts of Nepal.
The ten districts of Nepal in which Alliance for Peace works
