About YPS

Built from lived experience, expertise, and civic action.

YPS connects Syrian youth inside Syria and across the diaspora with regional peacebuilding, civic engagement, and solidarity movements across MENA and the South Mediterranean.

Who we are

Youth For Peace and Solidarity is a youth-led, civil society organization established in Şanlıurfa, Türkiye. Founded by Syrian diaspora youth with lived refugee experience, YPS is built on a foundation of professional expertise in social work, community development, and grassroots civic action.

YPS is governed by a diverse and inclusive management structure. Sixty percent of the Board of Directors are females, and over eighty-five percent of board and core team members are refugees or individuals with former refugee experience. This composition ensures that decision-making processes are grounded in lived realities, local knowledge, and community accountability.

The organization’s mandate is to advance the Youth, Peace and Security Agenda under UNSCR 2250. While deeply rooted in the Syrian context, YPS maintains a strong regional focus, aiming to foster South-South cooperation and solidarity between youth movements across the Mediterranean basin.

60%

Female Board Directors

YPS is governed through an inclusive management structure that centers women’s leadership.

85%+

Lived Refugee Experience

Most board and core team members are refugees or individuals with former refugee experience.

2250

Youth, Peace and Security

The organization advances the Youth, Peace and Security Agenda and youth-led peace action.

Goal

Peace, democracy, and social cohesion.

To advance peace, democracy, and social cohesion by strengthening the meaningful participation and leadership of Syrians in civic, political, and community life, inside Syria and across the diaspora.

Mission

Empowering youth to actively contribute to transformation.

Through capacity building, research-driven programming, and regional advocacy, YPS connects Syrian and diaspora youth efforts, fosters cross-border solidarity, and promotes inclusive participation in post-conflict and transitional contexts.

Vision

Youth as primary architects of peace and decision-making.

A democratic Syria in which youth are the primary architects of peace and decision-making, contributing to a region where democratic transformation and youth leadership shape a stable future for all.

Our approach

From symbolic participation to real youth leadership.

Lived experience as knowledge

YPS centers the knowledge of youth who have experienced displacement, social transition, and community rebuilding.

Research-driven programming

Programs are designed to connect community realities with practical recommendations, advocacy, and policy-oriented outputs.

Regional solidarity

YPS links Syrian youth efforts with youth movements across the Mediterranean, MENA region, and South-South cooperation spaces.

Inclusive participation

The organization maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward discrimination and promotes equal opportunity across all programs and partnerships.

Thematic pillars

What guides our work

Peacebuilding Conflict Transformation Democracy Participatory Governance Gender Equality Women’s Leadership Youth Participation Civic Engagement Social Cohesion Human Rights