Peace is more than the absence of war. It is also the absence of poverty, inequality and unemployment.

We initiated these Inter-Generational Dialogues to give you a platform to amplify your voice in shaping your present and future.

This is the first of 100 Inter-Generational Dialogues… a platform for youth to interact with leaders… to reshape consensus of the best approach towards developing our respective countries… and to help create a better and prosperous future for us all.

It’s never been so imperative for us to come together in times like this to share ideas, share our thoughts. That way we kind of show that our collective voices still matters.

We are making sure that we mobilise one million young people this year to commit to making peace possible. And I hope the young people…will join us and the Global Peace Platform to change the trajectory of the world to one that is more peaceful and more prosperous.

This initiative brings the voices of young people back to decision makers. And not any decision maker. This initiative is targeting cities, municipalities, because this is where conflict will be going forward.

Peace is a critical issue for the sustainability of our society. And very often the role that local governments at a local level plays in peace keeping and promotion of peace is overlooked. This is why I’m so pleased that Global Peace has decided to call Inter-Generational Dialogues in a hundred cities around the world.

We may not have lived in a time where we could see how the human rights charter was adopted. But we have an opportunity to see how in future a Global Peace charter will look like. So for all of us, this is a history that is in the making.

The Global Peace Inter-Generational Dialogues, has created much more opportunities for young people to come on board to share in their belief.

There can be no development without peace. Therefore, we see peace as the bedrock upon which we can progress. And if we want to achieve the SGD’s, we can’t leave out the young people….for that I say, the Global Peace Inter-Generational Dialogue is one of such important steps towards that direction.

Let it go on record that this initiative is not about African solutions for African problems. This is about an African initiative for global solutions. It is important that the trajectory that the Global Peace initiative is taking is coming to bridge the gap between our generation and the generation that is coming afterwards.

The Global Peace Initiative has come at a right time. At a time when the global population of the youth is growing dramatically. Our demographics that are shifting in such a manner that we can almost not understand the threats and the challenges that they pose. The Global Peace Initiative provides an opportunity to see it as a plus.