In 2021, after the Taliban took power, Nila Ibrahimi and her family fled Afghanistan. A staunch rights advocate since the age of thirteen, when she led a viral campaign that successfully overturned a government ban on Afghan girls over the age of 12 from singing in public, she knew she risked being targeted by the new regime.
After spending time in hiding, she now lives in Canada, but she hasn’t given up on her activism. From her new home, she launched HerStory, an organization dedicated to documenting the experiences of girls in Afghanistan and across the diaspora.
“I do my best to tell the stories of girls who weren’t allowed to go to school. I was able to graduate but my friends are still stuck in time in ninth grade. It’s emotional labor, but I think if it motivates just one person to do something, then I think I’ve done enough.”
Active partners in peace
Ms. Ibrahimi was speaking to UN News at an event on December 15 to mark the tenth anniversary of Security Council Resolution 2250, which formally recognizes young people as active partners in the maintenance and promotion of international peace and security.
Around half of the world’s population is under the age of 30, making them the generation most concerned about our common future. However, they are often excluded from the spaces where solutions to our most intractable problems are shaped.
Since the adoption of the resolution, the UN has supported a multitude of initiatives implementing the recommendations it contains. For example, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, and Honduras developed National and local action plans for Youth, Peace and Security (YPS); The African Union organized the first African continent-wide dialogue on the YPS, which culminated with the Bujumbura Declaration; and 11 countries, from Africa to the Middle East, Asia, and Europe, have so far adopted YPS action plans aligned with Resolution 2250.
Afghanistan, still governed by the Taliban, is not one of them. However, Ms. Ibrahimi, who has often felt like she is plowing a lonely furrow, remains fearless and determined to continue the fight for women’s rights.
“At the conference, it really struck me to be in the same room with people I would never have had the opportunity to meet and learn about how they implemented strategies to empower young people in their countries,” she reflects. “Just being in their presence was a great privilege and an opportunity to not only speak about my own story and elevate the voices of Afghan women, but also to learn from others.”
Let’s act now for peace
The events of December 15 culminated with a Peace Circle bringing together Ms. Ibrahimi, several other young leaders, as well as senior UN officials, diplomats, and academics. The Peace Circles were born from a major UN initiative as part of the flagship Act Now campaign. These are informal dialogues on peace-related topics, which can range from topics as broad as education, gender equality, climate, and technology. At least half of participants must be under 30, with a focus on young people who are often not at the table and new to UN spaces.
The Act Now for Peace campaign runs until September 2026, and discussions held in Peace Circles will directly feed into a number of UN projects, including the UN Secretary-General’s independent study on the contributions of young people to peace and a Global Youth Manifesto for Peace.
Find detailed information on how to create a peace circle here.
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