I grew up thinking that conflict was something I needed to win – or avoid – at all costs.
Gohar, 24, a youth worker and public administration specialist from Armenia, says that this conviction shaped not only the way she and her peers related to one another – but also what they believed to be true about a decades-long conflict between Armenians and Azerbaijanis.
Gohar recalls that a strong sense of mistrust towards “the other side” often made people see conflict in black-and-white terms, with little room to question what they had been taught or to hear a different view. “Sometimes, even being curious about another perspective could bring criticism.” But Gohar refused to let these divisions define how she saw people.
A genuine curiosity about human nature, paired with the willingness to act on what she learned, led her to join a project that did more than challenge her assumptions. It introduced her to nonviolent communication (NVC)1 principles and opened the possibility that peace was achievable. Even more importantly, it turned Gohar into a leader lighting the way for other young people.
On International Youth Day 2026, hear below from Gohar about her journey. Her story is one of breaking free from bias and mistrust – and a case study in what young people can achieve with the right kind of support, at a moment when governments are still negotiating what peace should look like.
A leap of faith
Born at a time when communities no longer knew peace, Gohar couldn’t help but wonder if the path of hate and fear was the only way. Her journey started in 2025 with a referral to a NVC training organised by the Public Journalism Club, International Alert’s partner in Armenia. This was part of a broader initiative – funded by the European Union and implemented by Alert and local partners in the South Caucasus. Its goal was to open space for young people to lead dialogue and mediation across the region through trainings, small grants, and mentorship.
“I am a person who wants to learn as much as possible. I wanted to have a toolkit to navigate through conflict – to use my words and my mind to solve the human communication problem”. A deeper dive into what NVC entailed, however, took a leap of faith.
Gohar carried real loss into her first training session as part of the project, having witnessed the violent escalations of the Armenia-Azerbaijani war in 2020 and 2023. “I had a school friend who fell victim to the 2020 war,” she recalls. Sitting across from young people from Azerbaijan for the first time, she felt resistance rise before the session had even begun.
When I was in that room, at first I was thinking about him, about the war, and I was really confused. I couldn’t get rid of these thoughts.
What changed her was an opportunity to meet the people she’d learned to fear. “When I got the chance to talk to them face to face, the tension started to fade away.” She walked out of her first training feeling relieved – and excited for becoming part of something bigger. “Now, I have a completely new perspective on the world, on our neighbouring country. I really want to work on peacebuilding activities and make my own contribution.”
Beyond labels
During three days of training Gohar and her peers worked closely with each other on group exercises that invited them to listen empathetically, express their needs clearly, and think critically.
When you feel connected, you stop caring about nationality at all – you just see a human being who has the same hopes and needs that you have.
NVC skills turned out to be “life-changing” for Gohar – but the shift didn’t happen immediately. “We are not used to openly expressing our feelings and needs in daily conversations. It took time and practice to make it a more natural part of the way I communicate,” admits Gohar.
Gohar saw real value in sharing these ideas more widely and used the project as a launchpad to do exactly that. “I have become very well aware of my own assumptions,” she says. “Now, I can say that I disagree with a particular policy or statement instead of labelling a whole nation.“
After the training, Gohar and other young people could apply for small grants from International Alert and the Public Journalism Club to design their own initiatives. Gohar chose to build a toolkit about NVC as a way of sharing what had changed her own perspective. “This was a huge step since there was no guidebook, no Armenian language videos on NVC,” she says.
Ownership that builds confidence to act
Gohar used her grant to hire an editor and a graphic designer, and to print the first 100 copies of the guide for distribution. She found it particularly exciting to have a sense of true ownership over the process and result.
It was a very nice self-discovery that I can do this on my own, entirely from A to Z – leading this project all by myself gave me a lot of confidence.
“When I came up with the idea, I didn’t have any difficulties,” she says. To Gohar, the recipe for her project’s success was a flexible micro-grant, a mentor relationship built on trust rather than instruction, and room to make her own decisions without a prescribed template. “Whenever I was unsure about the best way to resolve an issue, the PJC team would offer advice and support but never imposed their vision.”
Giraffe language
Since the project’s end, Gohar continues to distribute her guide online and offline at trainings she organises all over Armenia for schoolchildren, university students and organisations working with young people, reaching several hundred participants and counting.
Learning to recognise one’s feelings, express one’s needs, listen with empathy and resolve disagreements peacefully needs to start at an early age. That way, these skills can become a natural part of how people communicate and relate to each other in adulthood.
She is optimistic about the impact this work is already having on her peers. “So far I’ve received a lot of positive feedback, that NVC has changed their lives, and they saw a new approach to resolving conflict,” Gohar says. She is also coordinating a team of over 60 volunteers at Armenian Caritas, helping them integrate NVC principles and techniques into their activities.
Inspired by Marshall Rosenberg’s2 own work with incarcerated people, Gohar even organised trainings for people on probation. This is evidence that NVC tools translate far beyond conflicts, into justice systems and everyday community life.
“I want to find resources to print more copies of the guide to expand access to it”. She’s exploring advocacy and partnerships with influencers popular among young people as the logical next step – if funding allows her to keep developing the project.
In the meantime, she has started her own blog and even written a fairy tale in Armenian called ‘Giraffe language’ that should help kids communicate in a nonviolent way. “If my idea gets approved, I would love to publish the fairy tale and use it in puppet theatre to teach children about NVC from a very young age.”
Laying the groundwork for lasting peace
There’s been real, welcome progress recently in peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. But Gohar believes the grassroots work happening in training rooms and community halls – led by young people – is already helping to lay the foundation for dialogue and reconciliation.
She is adamant about the urgency of expanding projects like the one she took part in. “It’s better when young people can make use of their great potential for peace,” she says. This is a responsibility she sees as shared between the state, civil society, and young people themselves.
Young people can turn new ideas into real change. We need to equip them with skills and toolkits so that they can act as soon as possible, and this means today.
Gohar aspires to become the first certified NVC trainer in Armenia and continues to expand her knowledge and skills. “I want to help people more professionally so they can start using NVC in their daily lives – with colleagues, friends, family. If we were surrounded by people who can speak giraffe language instead of jackal language, it would be a lot easier for everyone.”
