Menno Ettema is from The Netherlands, but he has lived before in the UK, Palestine and Israel. He has an MA in Psychology of Culture and Religion, from the University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. He researched on the issues of identity and integration. These interests guided his social engagement in the fields of inter-religious and intercultural dialogue, mediation and non-violent communication. He initiated the association ‘Con-Young-Tion’ and organised several youth exchanges in the Netherlands with participants from Palestine, Israel (Jewish and Palestinian), Belgium and The Netherlands. His motivation to work for UNOY Peacebuilders as International Coordinator comes from these experiences and admiration for those that are making a difference in their communities every day. UNOY Peacebuilders is global network of young people and youth organisations active in the field of peacebuilding. There main areas of action are networking, training, and empowerment for action/support to youth projects, campaigning and advocacy, and practical research on the role of youth in peacebuilding.