The 12th UNOSDP Youth Leadership Programme begins today in Gwangju

This is the second consecutive year that the Youth Leadership Camp of the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP) is being held in Gwangju. Similar to last year, the event is taking place at the Honam University and includes 33 participants originating from Australia, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Salomon Islands, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Tonga.

The goal of the camp is to bring together outstanding youth who are involved with organisations that use sport for development and peace for two weeks to build friendships, share best practices, and develop leadership skills which they can use to inspire and invoke change. The camp includes facilitators from leading organisations from around the world, including the International Paralympic Committee, the International Table Tennis Federation, the International Swimming Federation (FINA), Korean Air, the World Taekwondo Federation and the English Football Association. UNAIDS will also be present for the Gwangju Camp.

An exciting element to the Gwangju YLP is the annual EPICS Forum. The forum, which also takes place in Gwangju, is a youth mentoring programme that brings together youth leaders from around the world to contribute to building a better society by sharing ideas about environment, peace, IT innovation and culture and sport development. Participants from the YLP are invited to take part in the one-day forum. The list of speakers for the forum includes Mr. Wilfried Lemke, the Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace; Mr. Kim Won-Soo, Assistant Secretary General and Special Adviser to the Secretary General; and Mr. Yoon Jang-hyun, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City.

The Gwangju YLP will last until Saturday, 30 August. 

• Visit the UNOSDP Facebook-page for updates on the camp

[This article has been edited by the Operating Team]