Youth and the Internet: Fighting Radicalization and Extremism

Lakshitha Saji Prelis is the director for the Children & Youth Programs at Search for Common Ground (SFCG) and the co-chair of the UN-Civil Society Working Group on Youth Participation in Peacebuilding.  He has over twenty years of experience working with youth, youth movements and youth led/focused organizations in various conflict and transition environments in West and East Africa, Central Asia, Middle East & North Africa, and South & Southeast Asia. He co-facilitated, with UN agencies and International NGOs the development of the Guiding Principles for Young People’s Participation in Peacebuilding, released in New York in April 2014. He most recently moderated two panel discussions. One was hold at the Swedish Mission to the UN Side Event to the UN Security Council Thematic Debate on the Role of Youth in Countering Violent Extremism and Promoting Peace (April 2015). The second took place in Oslo (Norway) at Partnership for Change’s Annual Conference on the topic of Youth and Countering Violent Extremism and Peace with the Secretary of State to the Prime Minister of Norway and the Permanent Representative of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to the UN (May 2015). He was also invited to address the Commonwealth African and Caribbean Ministers on Engaging Youth in Peacebuilding (February and April 2015).

Mr. Prelis, a Sri Lankan native, obtained his Master's Degree in International Peace and Conflict Resolution with a Concentration in International Law from the School of International Service at American University in Washington, DC.