: About Us - WHO WE ARE

Peace is the desire of everybody, but it takes a special kind of person to actively seek it. These people are leaders. The World Youth Peace Summit brings together dynamic young leaders who share the dream of peace. We do this by organizing Youth Peace Conferences and facilitating a worldwide network that links active young people with the support they need. These Youth Leaders represent the best of all sectors, encompassing government, business and independent organizations. The World Youth Peace Summit combines the strengths of these diverse leaders for a common goal.

The World Youth Peace Summit is the first multi-sectoral youth platform for peace, bringing together young leaders from government, business, entertainment, education, law, medicine, science, religion, the arts, technology, sports, media, agriculture, non-governmental organisations and youth organisations. The Summit will harness the strengths of these diverse leaders for a common goal. The delegates will come together to create the following:

• A Youth Action Plan for World Peace and Security (YAP-WPS);
• A permanent collaborative structure to work for peace;
• A worldwide network that links active youth leaders and provides the recognition and support they need

World Youth Peace Summit Objectives

• To create a global network of youth leaders collectively working for positive change
• To provide and coordinate resources that support youth peace initiatives
• To identify talented youth with leadership potential from all parts of the world
• Create youth-focused Leadership Development Institutes to teach leadership through service and the effective Management of Change in a globalising world
• Better educate the youth leaders of global social challenges and seek innovative solutions to support the United Nations in its effort for world peace and development
• To encourage mutual understanding, respect for life, inner-peace and harmony

WHAT IS PEACE?

Our definition of peace extends far beyond conflict resolution and an absence of war. The World Youth Peace Summit carries the motto:

Peace Within,
Peace With Each Other,
Peace With Nature.

The youth leaders in our network are advocates and activists for a broad range of social issues that contribute to one of the above ‘peaces’. This includes, but is not limited to, the environment, education, national and ethnic reconciliation, health and economic development.

WHY YOUNG PEOPLE?

Of the 6 billion people alive today, 4 billion are under the age of 35. Eighty-five per cent of these young people live in developing countries, most in nations where the average per capita income is below US$1000 per year. The challenges this generation face are well documented: climate change, an ever-increasing supply of deadly weapons, a booming global population and the HIV/AIDS pandemic are only a few.

Solutions for such global problems will require the dedicated collaboration of men and women from all regions of the world. Fortunately, youth today are better placed to do this than any generation before them. Young people have grown up in the age of globalisation and are far more likely to share interests, values and languages. A major UN survey showed that global youth today ‘share similar worries -- from fears of illness in the family to worries about nuclear war and environmental destruction.’ When this new generation takes command they will bring a new outlook. They will have the collective goodwill necessary to reform the global system and ensure a sustainable future. An old saying goes ‘the young looks ahead with hope; the old looks back with forlorn’. The World Youth Peace Summit will help young people transform that hope into action.

WYPS – An Ongoing Vision

The World Youth Peace Summit will not end with any one summit or event. The peace that we seek - ‘Peace Within, Peace with Each Other and Peace with Nature’ – will be the work of many generations. We are therefore building a framework will help promote positive, peaceful values in Youth Leaders as they emerge.