Inspiring Youth to Take Action towards Global Goals, Office for Disarmament Affairs Joins World Scout Jamboree at Quadrennial Event in Republic of Korea

NEW YORK, 1 August (Office for Disarmament Affairs) — More than 40,000 young people from around the world are gathering in SaeManGeum, Jeollabuk-do, Republic of Korea, this week for the adventure of a lifetime during the twenty-fifth World Scout Jamboree.

The Jamboree, one of the world’s largest outdoor educational events for young people, brings together Scouts aged 14 to 17 from over 150 countries to experience a wide range of educational activities that promote sustainability, global citizenship, cultural understanding, and leadership skills.

This year, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) in close collaboration with IM Swedish Development Partner’s Humanium Metal will be a key partner in the twenty-fifth World Scout Jamboree by hosting an exhibition in the Ban Ki-moon Sustainable Development Goals village, a key space within the campsite that will engage young people in activities which inspire them to take action in their communities.

The educational activities run by UNODA and IM Swedish Development Partner are designed to promote awareness among young people of the critical importance of disarmament for ensuring peace, security, and sustainable development and empower them to devise innovative approaches to promote these objectives through art.

At a dedicated exhibition space, the Scouts can give free rein to their creativity, using Humanium Metal crayons made from the melted down illicit firearms remnants to “draw their dreams” and create art that symbolizes peace to them.  They can also participate in UNODA’s #StepUp4Disarmament campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the devastating health consequences of nuclear testing through a call to mark the International Day Against Nuclear Tests by completing a distance of 8.29 kilometres, a symbolic number that corresponds with the date of the International Day on 29 August.

UNODA offers a wide variety of opportunities and activities that engage, educate and empower young people, including through its youth outreach initiative, #Youth4Disarmament, the Youth Leader Fund for a World Without Nuclear Weapons and a variety of disarmament education activities such as online courses that are freely accessible on the Disarmament Education Dashboard.

“We do so to enable inclusion, to build platforms and to ensure collaboration.  We do so to forge a community that will thrive with an ever-increasing youth participation” said Izumi Nakamitsu, the United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.

“At the halfway mark to 2030, young people are concerned about progress towards the SDGs and want to take action in their communities,” said Ahmad Alhendawi, Secretary General of the World Organization of the Scout Movement.  “We’re proud that partners from different sectors are joining us at the Jamboree to help young people explore social issues they care about and learn how to be positive changemakers when they return home.”

Already, Scouts have contributed an astonishing 3 billion hours of community services towards the Sustainable Development Goals by carrying out local projects and actions to tackle climate change, promote peace, respond during humanitarian crises, and advocate for greater equality and justice.

UNODA and IM Swedish Development Partner’s involvement in the Jamboree will accelerate and inspire even more young people to champion causes that matter to them and to create change in local communities to address some of the most pressing social, environmental and economic challenges facing our planet.

UNODA’s participation in the Jamboree is funded through generous financial support from the Government of Republic of Korea.  For more information, visit youth4disarmament.org.