Youth-Led Peacebuilding in Pakistan
My name is Zeeste Jahanzaib. I worked with USAID Pakistan on peacebuilding, youth engagement, human rights, and democracy. This work has never felt like a job. It’s my passion.
I’ve always believed in using whatever skills and platform I have to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives, especially in vulnerable and underserved areas. What inspires me is the quiet strength of the communities we served—the way young people step up as changemakers, and how a small community-led idea can blossom into a movement.
I’ve been committed to locally led development long before Local Works came along. But what Local Works did was give legitimacy and breathing space to that approach. It allowed people like me—working within the system but pushing at its edges—to finally feel seen, validated, and supported.
The community-focused approaches Local Works advocated for at USAID were so simple, so instinctively right, that I remember asking myself, “Why haven’t we always done it this way?” Instead of retrofitting communities into pre-designed, donor-driven frameworks, it invited us to truly listen and build programming around the community’s own vision for change.
The most fulfilling part of my job has been seeing our work continue long after projects close—watching partners and communities take the lead, adapt programs to their contexts, and keep the mission alive. That’s the dream of development—not to do for communities, but to enable them to do it for themselves.
Local Works helped turn a buzzword into a process.
It challenged us to listen before planning, to co-create rather than dictate, and to trust communities as the drivers of their own development.
Once, in a conflict-prone area, we backed a youth-led idea. Their plan was simple: debate competitions and sports tournaments. Because it came from them, it worked. Tensions eased. Friendships formed.
If I could tell a donor one thing, it’s that it mattered. It wasn’t just money; it was trust, relationships, and long-term partnership. Local Works wasn’t just a model—it was a mindset.
My advice now: trust local voices. Invest in their leadership. Walk with communities, not ahead of them. The impact will speak for itself.
