PEACEPLUS Youth Programme
The PEACEPLUS Youth Programme is a cross-border programme for young people aged 14-24 years. It is a transformative youth work led programme designed to help improve and further develop the capabilities of young people in a range of outcome areas, with its overall objective to improve community relations, employability and life chances of those who participate.
The programme will build on the success of Peace4Youth which enabled young participants to develop capabilities in the areas of good relations, personal development and citizenship. In addition to these outcome areas, the PEACEPLUS Youth Programme will also focus on employability and positive progression for participants.
The Programme aims to enhance the capacity of children and young people to form positive and effective relationships with others of a different background, develop their confidence and future potential and make a positive contribution to building a cohesive society. This is a targeted capacity-building programme for young people who do not readily engage or sustain engagement in other programmes.
The Department for the Economy is the Accountable Department in Northern Ireland, and its Youth Inclusion Branch maintains oversight of the programme and administers an incentive payment to eligible participants in Northern Ireland.
Funded Projects
Following a call for funding in 2023, six projects were awarded funding to deliver the PEACEPLUS Youth Programme:
- AMPLIFY led by Youth Action NI
- E2T led by YMCA Ireland
- HEROES+ led by Mencap
- Journeys led by Springboard Opportunities Limited
- STRIVE led by Include Youth
- Youthscape Plus led by South West College
The programme commenced delivery across Northern Ireland and border counties in Spring 2024.
PEACEPLUS Youth projects are to be designed to have intensive weekly engagement with participants, three to four days each week over a six to nine months period, with a minimum of 250 engagement hours for each participant throughout their time on the project.
The programme will target 7,500 young people in Northern Ireland and the Border Counties of Ireland, with 6,000 of those from Northern Ireland over four years.
Contact Us
Email: peaceplus.youth@economy-ni.gov.uk
Phone: 028 9025 7590
Further information
PEACEPLUS Youth is delivered and managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). Further information can be found at Investment Area 3.2 - PEACEPLUS Youth Programme