Our stories. Find out more about our work towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

 Every year on 21 September, the world marks the International Day of Peace. This year's theme, "Invest in Peace – For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day," is a reminder that peace is not a single event or a signature on a document. It is built continuously, in classrooms, village halls, and community meetings, by people who choose dialogue over division.In Timor-Leste, UNDP's Social Cohesion Project is taking care of that. Over the past several months, the project’s second phase has brought together youth, community leaders, teachers,   students, and government representatives across Baucau and Viqueque municipalities to take practical action to build and strengthen  peace building initiative within their respective village coAs the country marks this year's International Day of Peace, here is a look back at how that investment in peace has been taking shape on the ground.Community Dialogues: Building the House of PeaceIn July 2026, the project conducted Community Dialogues on the House of Peace and Root Cause Analysis of Conflict in two sucos. In Suco Samalari, Baucau Municipality, 18 Youth Promoters from the suco's four aldeias joined the Chiefs of each aldeia for two days of discussion, opened by the Second Commander of the National Police of Timor-Leste (PNTL) in Baucau, Mr. Fasiu de Jesus Lima, alongside Suco Chief Mr. Rui Sequeira.A week later, the dialogue moved to Suco Uma Quic, Viqueque Municipality, where 19 Youth Promoters representing all eight aldeias took part, together with their Chiefs and the local Community Police Officer.In both sucos, participants worked through participatory exercises to identify the root causes of local conflict and the factors that support peace and cohesion. The dialogues reaffirmed something the project holds at its core: young people are not bystanders in peacebuilding; they are agents of it, and resilient communities are built through mutual understanding forged at the local level. Suku Samalari, Baucau MunicipalityUNDP Timor-LesteCivic Education: Giving Students the Tools to Resolve ConflictPeace also has to be learned, and taught early. In July, the project delivered civic education trainings on life skills, conflict resolution, and non-violent coping mechanisms to students in two schools.At ESGP Calixa Viqueque in Beobe Uma Quic, 48 students took part in three days of interactive sessions, role-play, and group discussion, alongside representatives from the Viqueque Municipal Education Service and the school's leadership. One student, Britania de Araújo Amaral, put the lesson simply: "After this training, I understand that conflict prevention and resolution are not only the responsibility of local authorities or legal institutions. Everyone in the community has a role to play, and even small actions, such as managing stress effectively, can contribute to preventing conflict."At the School of General Secondary Education Number 1 in Baucau Vila, 45 students and 5 teachers took part in a parallel training, exploring the behaviours and triggers behind conflict and practising the skills needed to resolve disputes peacefully, with support from the Municipal Education Service and school leadership.A National Conversation on Youth, Peace, and CohesionPeace built in communities also needs to be heard at the national level. This year, UNDP and the g7+ co-organised a High-Level Policy Dialogue on Youth, Peace and Social Cohesion at the Timorese Catholic University (UCT), bringing government leaders, youth, civil society, and development partners into direct conversation.With around 65% of Timor-Leste's population under the age of 30, the country's path forward depends on young people being heard, included, and given the space to lead. The conversations from this dialogue will directly feed into a second policy dialogue planned for October 2026.As UNDP Timor-Leste Resident Representative Ms. Katyna Argueta put it:"This dialogue recognizes that lasting peace is not built solely through national policies or institutional reforms, it begins within communities, where trust is fostered and differences are managed constructively." Participants of the High-Level Policy Dialogue on Youth, Peace and Social Cohesion, held in Dili on 29 July 2026UNDP Timor-LesteTurning Youth Promoters into Peace ChampionsThe project's most recent milestone builds directly on the community dialogues held earlier in the year. In August, the first phase of a Co-Facilitation Training on Youth Leadership and Knowledge Sharing began in Suku Uma Quic, Viqueque Municipality, with 16 Youth Promoters from the village taking part alongside the Village Police Officer, and the Municipal Authority of Viqueque representative.Facilitated jointly by PDHJ, PNTL Viqueque, g7+, DNPCC-UPCC Viqueque, and UNDP, the training is equipping young leaders from Uma Quic's eight aldeias with practical skills in peacebuilding, conflict prevention, communication, gender inclusion and community engagement. Uma Quic has been chosen as the pioneer village for an initiative the Municipal Authority hopes to eventually extend across all 38 villages of Viqueque Municipality.Amplifying Local Voices The project has also taken these conversations beyond the community hall and onto the airwaves. Three episodes of a new podcast series, Cohesion Talks, have already been released, giving local stakeholders a platform to reflect on peace and social cohesion in their own words. The first episode features a youth representative from Suku Samalari, Baucau Municipality, who speaks to the value of community dialogue as a space where young people can voice their views and help strengthen peace in their aldeia and suku. The second turns to local governance, with the President of the Municipal Authority of Viqueque sharing his perspective on development, public service delivery, and ongoing efforts to build social cohesion across the municipality. A third episode, featuring the Chief of Suco Uma-Quic, explores the role of women’s empowerment in community life, while a fourth and final episode is set to be released later this week — rounding out a series that captures, in the voices of those living it, what investing in peace, and the ‘Leave No One Behind’ principle, looks like at the community level. Knowledge-Sharing Session from Samalari Village, Baucu MunicipalityInvesting in Peace, Every DayTaken together, these activities tell a consistent story: peace in Timor-Leste is being built from the ground up, through dialogue between generations, between communities and authorities, and between local experience and national policy. It is being built in classrooms where students learn to manage conflict before it escalates, in village halls where youth and elders sit down together, and in national forums where those local voices are finally given a seat at the table.On this International Day of Peace, UNDP Timor-Leste, through the Social Cohesion Project, reaffirms its commitment to that investment — for everyone, everywhere, every day.