Since 2010Eubios Ethics Institute has convened thirty youth training forums to work together with Youth as Agents of Change for Social Transformation all around the world, starting under the auspices of UNESCO in Hiroshima, then Phnom Penh, and across many spaces in Asia, the Pacific, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. Dr. Darryl Macer started these trainings while serving as UNESCO Regional Advisor for Asia and the Pacific. The need for transformation from a culture of fear to a culture of peace is sadly just as necessary now as it was then. The words of Gandhi to be the change you want to see in the world are eternal, and need to be fostered.

These forums are the Youth Peace Ambassadors (YPA) International and the Youth Looking Beyond Disaster (LBD). Most participants develop action plans that after implementation and sharing of their experiences will qualify the trainee as an “Ambassador”. The first UNESCO Youth Ambassadors were awarded in March 2011, and a list of the names and countries of some of these Ambassadors under this program, and their action plans, are found on the Youth Ambassadors page. Importantly we want the actions to also serve their local community, as part of a glocal approach to social development.

You can participate in several ways.
Please read the background information below before making an inquiry or application to attend (the overall dates are: 4-9 April 2024).
1)YPA18 will provide state of the art background presentations, and develop skills to develop your action plans to make a difference in specific communities that you choose. Global expetrts will mentor trainees to conceptualise, develop and/or refine their action plans so that appropriate partners can be found to success. We will assist in preparing proposals and a strategy to make your case to potential sponsors in your local community. Even if all you have is an idea, we will help you to develop this to be the change in the world starting step by step.

2)The sub-meeting of YPA18 during the first days, IPHA20, will provide opportunities for presentations in person and on-line, addressing the research-policy nexus on the themes Bioethics, Health and War. Bioethics is defined as the love of life. This will feature global experts providing necessary wisdom from which to frame practical actions. Experts will provide constructive feedback to your proposals.

3)In parallel throughout these overlapping events there will be an exhibition of art, and other creative projects of youth all around the world on the themes of peace and war, climate change and sustainability (STEM), and construction of peace. Please read below under “Art, Music and STEM Youth Creativity Competitions“.

Partners:
The partners currently include a number of registered non-profit organizations: Youth’s UNESCO Club (both Nepal and USA branches), American University of Sovereign Nations (AUSN); Eubios Ethics Institute (New Zealand and Japan); Philippine Association of Extension Program Implementers, Inc (PAEPI), St. Paul’s University Quezon City (SPUQC), Youth Looking Beyond Disaster (LBD), Youth Peace Ambassadors International (YPA), the World is Just a Book Away (WIJABA, USA and Indonesia); and Maritime Academy of Asia & the Pacific (MAAP); and the World Nepal News. More are welcome.

Who can apply The program is open to all persons of any age anywhere. A certificate as UNESCO Youth Peace Ambassador is open to those who develop an action plan, if you define yourself as youth. We have no cutoff age for “youth”.

There is no specific required qualification to join, but currently the training is delivered in English language. Our mentors and judges are fluent in many languages. Individuals can join together with others to develop and implement an action plan to help a community (At least one of the team members should be present in person).

There are a minimum of 48 contact hours of training required to become an Ambassador, in addition to the time spent in design, implementation, community service and evaluation. We suggest that you will join some online preliminary programs prior to the specific dates, for preregistered participants.Upon completion a Certificate will be issued.

Art, Music and STEM Youth Creativity Competitions There are two main themes for the Creativity Contests, but we will accept creative projects of any subject providing they do not contain abuse to any individual or group of persons. Entries will be asked to categorise their primary subject as either:
1)Light of Hope and Love (A world of Peace and Love); or
2a) Innovation in STEM for Climate Change, or
2b) Future Problem Solving Life Scenario: Contributions of STEM to Society.
This will be open to anybody, and include persons from the whole world including (but not limited to) many conflict zones such as Palestine, Israel, Ukraine, Sudan, DRC, Myanmar, and so on, and persons from many places and spaces on our planet. More information about this global school competition and individual art festival is available separately, along with the way that your art, prose, music, video and other creative works will be judged if you enter it in the competition. A global panel of judges will also give feedback. The links for WORD and PDF files for the Peace and STEM competitions (up to: Primary school; Secondary School and 30 years): https://ausovereignnations.org/creative-competitions-in-peace-and-stem-2024/ Those older are welcome, but will not be judged.

In case that your work includes photographs of persons please inform us whether you have the permissions from someone to include that image. We understand that in some conflict zones it is not always possible, but please do not self-censor, For art, prose or music you will be asked to also answer some questions such as What do you want to depict in your work? What human values you hold dear to you and the world? What is your message for Youth and/or Adults? You will retain copyright for your creative works!
We will also ask you to inform us of your age, and whether you would agree to your name and location being associated with a display or publication of your works – In case you are a professional. please mention that also. If you use AI or computer assisted art please mention. In case we think that there may be some security concerns for you, we will also ask you to confirm. Your correspondence will be treated as confidential, and it will not be any disadvantage to request us to be anonymous.
Winners and commended works will be featured on the website: https://ausovereignnations.org/creative-competitions-in-peace-and-stem-2024/
The persons will have the option to have their name and photograph on the website.

We plan to display the work that we can physically in Los Angeles for a week during the YPA18 programme, and also to have a display of the exhibition at some partner institutions in Native American land.