Source: UNESCO

Application deadline: March 12, 2012

Forum Overview:

The International Leadership Training Programme, organized as a forum, is premised on a three-fold understanding of the vital role leaders play in society. The first is that every new generation of human rights leaders builds on the work of those who came before it. The second is that in today’s increasingly interdependent global world, where actions or events in any part of the global system have impact on people in other regions of the world, there is a need to build a network of solidarity and to nurture a new cadre of human rights leaders who can educate others and provide enlightened leadership to meet the complex and multifaceted challenges of the new millennium. And the third is that young people are a force to be reckoned with and that the future belongs to them. In order, to ensure that they are effective leaders for a better future, today’s leaders have a duty to impart their knowledge to the younger generation of leaders and to alert it of the pitfalls of the past. This is because, although the circumstances under which the new generation of leaders operates/will operate are different, the issues that confront them are not fundamentally new to humanity and the types of strategies that would help them tackle the various issues need not be completely reinvented but innovatively adapted to new circumstances.

A principal reason why the intergenerational forum focuses on young leaders specifically is because, more than any other group in society, their training will most likely have great and ripple impact on society. Accordingly, the Forum will place premium on nurturing and developing young people for local and global leadership and building bridges and a network of solidarity, which promote the sharing of experiences and understanding of, and provide an impetus for, the empowerment of young leaders that will enable them to play a crucial and constructive role in the development of human rights in their communities and the world at large. The conference will provide tools and a platform for open debates about policies, programs, activities and processes necessary for human rights leadership.

In appreciation of the dynamics of an interdependent world, the UNESCO Chair will host an annual intergenerational forum that brings together young leaders from all regions of the world in the field of human rights once annually. The forum will be held in August of each year to coincide with the International Youth Day, taking place on August 12, commemorated at the United Nations Headquarters in the USA. This will provide opportunities for participants to participate in Youth Day activities and meet with UN leaders. To complement the annual forum, regional fora will also be held in various continents.

For more details, go to: http://www.unescochair.uconn.edu/upspecialevents.htm