People-to-People Contacts The facilitation of people-to-people is an important component in building sustainable peace. This refers, in particular, to the establishment of contacts within and between deeply polarized societies, or to the re-building of trust between conflict-affected communities in post-conflict settings. People-to-people contacts can take place at local, national or regional levels and include a variety of stakeholders, such civil society organizations, academics, youth groups, professional associations, business people, sports clubs and artists. Below are some examples of how the OSCE promoted and supported such activities in the region. 1. Regional co-operation among youth The OSCE launched an intercultural dialogue initiative between youth from two countries. The main objective was to foster long-term co-operation between youth from the region and to promote relevant joint policies and programmes in largely ethnically-divided societies. The initiative began with a five-day summer school on intercultural youth dialogue in one country, which was followed with a winter school on the same topic in the other country. The events allowed young men and women to discuss the experiences and challenges facing youth in their respective societies. The participants comprised young people who had previously been engaged in OSCE democracy activities, OSCE youth ambassadors, and 97