United Nations Youth Champions for Disarmament Training Programme Opens Call for Applications
NEW YORK, 23 October (Office for Disarmament Affairs) — United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has made a major push to engage and empower young people, recognizing their participation as essential for identifying new solutions that will secure the breakthroughs that our world urgently needs.
To that end, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and the Government of Germany are calling on young people to apply for the second edition of the United Nations Youth Champions for Disarmament programme — an innovative learning programme aimed at empowering youth to work for disarmament in their communities.
Fifteen young people between the ages of 18 and 24 will be selected to participate in the second edition of the training programme, which will introduce a regional focus.
Through this regional approach, the training programme will bring together a geographically diverse group of young disarmament advocates and enable them to share their specific regional perspectives — from Africa and Europe; Asia and the Pacific; the Americas and the Caribbean regions — and connect them to the global disarmament discourse. In addition, three job opportunities with UNODA for young professionals are built into the programme to support its implementation at regional levels. These positions will be made public in due course.
The selected 15 United Nations Youth Champions for Disarmament will receive training in the general principles of disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control and its linkages to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. After completion of the introductory courses, regular exchanges with experts from think-tanks, civil society organizations and the diplomatic field will be facilitated by UNODA, followed by regional workshops and youth forums. At the end of the training, the 15 Youth Champions will be invited to present their perspectives at an event at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
The call for applications to the United Nations Youth Champions for Disarmament training programme will be launched at an event with youth participants today, on the margins of the First Committee of the UN General Assembly. The event will discuss the important role of young people in advancing disarmament followed by a video message featuring Youth Champions for Disarmament from the first edition of the programme, who have since developed careers in government, academia, civil society and industry. The dialogue marks the kick-off of the Disarmament Week established by the First Special Session of the General Assembly Devoted to Disarmament in 1978.
Applications for the United Nations Youth Champions for Disarmament training programme will be accepted until 27 November 2023. For more information, please visit youth4disarmament.org.
Contact: Soo Hyun Kim, Political Affairs Officer, email: kim12@un.org.