CIAO DATE: 11/2010
September 2010
Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre
n response to growing claims in the social science literature about the links between large youth populations, youth unemployment and armed violence, there has been a proliferation of donor programmes designed to reduce armed violence and conflict through youth job creation programmes. This paper examines the success of youth job-creation programmes in reducing armed violence. It finds that both the theoretical and the empirical basis for using youth-employment programmes as a tool for reducing armed violence and armed conflict is extremely weak. Theoretically, the notion that job creation alone could reduce armed violence is unconvincing. The literature suggests that there are multiple motivations for youth engagement in armed violence, and that there may be considerable variation in these motivations within any given context. In-depth case studies suggest that while youth unemployment may provide part of the explanation of why armed violence occurs, this factor is rarely a main or direct cause of violence. Even where youth employment may be a factor, its relationship to violence is complex and multi-faceted and should not simply be understood in opportunity-cost terms.
Resource link: Youth, armed violence and job creation [PDF] - 626K