We are pleased to announce that we have launched the Global Taskforce for Youth Combatants (GTY), a new initiative dedicated to raising awareness of and fostering dialogue on the rights and empowerment of Youth Associated with Non-State Armed Groups (YANSAG).

Through this taskforce, we aim to provide young people currently caught up in terrorism and armed conflict with alternatives to violence, and to create a world where they can live as youth—and as agents of peace. Originating from Japan, we will advance a wide range of initiatives to help realize this vision.

Specifically, GTY will bring together former youth combatants and individuals directly affected by terrorism and conflict from around the world, alongside experts, practitioners, and victims. Together, we will engage in global awareness campaigns, collect testimonies from youth combatants across regions, organize international conferences, and develop policy recommendations and draft normative frameworks.

In addition, we plan to design and implement empowerment programs that enable young people associated with terrorism and armed conflict to transform into peacebuilders. We will also support initiatives led by these young people, as well as those who assist them, through dedicated grant-providing programs.

Through these efforts, GTY seeks to contribute to the establishment of new international norms that ensure the rights, protection, and empowerment of YANSAG, enabling them to lay down their weapons and become unique agents of peace.

▶︎Click here for GTY’s website.

For over a decade, our organization has worked on the frontlines of terrorism and conflict. Since marking our 10th anniversary in 2021, we have also been advancing global initiatives to raise international awareness of the challenges faced by youth associated with armed groups—an issue that has too often been overlooked. Moving forward, through GTY, we will accelerate our efforts toward establishing international norms that recognize and protect these young people as agents of peace.