18 September, New Delhi--- On the occasion of the International Day of Non-Violence on October 2, 2018, the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development is launching the International Youth Campaign on Kindness for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The unique campaign aims to mobilize the world’s youth to achieve the United Nations’ SDGs by calling for and celebrating stories of extraordinary, transformative Acts of Kindness committed by youth and by showing how they are contributing to the achievement of the SDGs.
The date and locations of the global launch are of extreme importance as 2018 marks the start of the celebrations of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and the 100th birth anniversary of Nelson Mandela, both leaders who demonstrated to the world that inclusive societies flourish on principles of kindness and the greater good.
The global launch of the campaign on October 2 will witness simultaneous youth activities taking place en masse across the day in India (New Delhi), South Africa (Cape Town) and Pakistan (Islamabad). Each group activity will be a step towards achieving one or many of the Sustainable Development Goals.
In India, youth groups will come together during the first half of the day to participate in a mass blood donation drive in collaboration with the International Federation of Red Cross (SDG 3: Good Health and Well Being), distribute extra food among those in need (SDG 2: Zero Hunger) and an educational session with underprivileged children (SDG 4: Quality Education).
This will be followed by a Talking Across Generations on Education Dialogue series on “Educating for Kindness in a world of Societal and Planetary change.” This unique inter-generational dialogue will have 9 qualified youth such as Tara Bedi (Instagram India), Bijal Damani (Project Galaxy Bazaar), Shruti Kedia (Your Story), Faith Gonsalves (Music Basti) among others, engage in a dialogue with experts from the field such as Vikas Pandey (BBC), Nandini Sood (Design For Change) and Shri AK Dubey (Secy. of Youth Affairs) on the need to education for Kindness in today’s times. The day’s activities will conclude with a concert by youth band Knight Shades at the India Habitat Centre in the capital.
A live video link will connect the India launch with the Cape Town City Hall where the launch is being led by UNESCO MGIEP’s YESPeace South Africa Chapter. The iconic City Hall is the venue from where Nelson Mandela made his first public speech after his release in 1990. The youth in Cape Town will be participating in 17 Peace-Expo Style activities during the first half of the day.
The official launch will be initiated by the Western Cape Premier (TBC), Ms Namhla Mniki- Mangaliso (Director, African Monitor), the youngest Member of Parliament: Hlomela Bucwa and the Indian High Commissioner Hon. Ms Ruchira Kamboj. The youth will then be treated to a live concert by Freshly Ground.
In Pakistan the official launch will take place as part of the YESPeace Pakistan Festival in Islamabad and in Paris the official announcement of the campaign will take place as part of UNESCO MGIEP’s Ahinsa Lecture series with Sadhguru at the UNESCO headquarters.
In Mexico, the campaign is being launched at the Tecnologico de Monterrey in collaboration with the Girl Guides of Mexico. The activities begin with a visit to the MOSTLA laboratory of emerging technologies applied to education that has a set of pedagogic tendencies devices, for example: 3D printers and scanners, screens with self-managed video systems, games, drones, cameras video 360 °, instruments for virtual experiences and augmented reality, artificial intelligence, telepresence, the internet of things, tele transporters and virtual voice assistants. This is followed by a Rally of Kindness all over the Campus Monterrey to hang posters and share with students the digital social media of the International Youth Campaign on Kindness for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A presentation of the International Youth Campaign on Kindness for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to the research-professors members of the "Open Energy Network" will also be made.
About the International Youth Campaign on Kindness for the SDGs:
Implementing the 17 SDGs represents a formidable challenge of addressing issues as diverse as changing demographics, migration, climate change, economic slowdown as well as better co-ordination among organizations, measuring indicators, reporting on progress, and communicating results to motivate further action.
A key component often ignored when designing strategies to address social, ecological and economic problems are socio-emotional capacities that motivate individual action. Acts anchored on the competencies of kindness, empathy and compassion form the foundation of a more sustainable future. These acts performed especially by the youth, institutionally recognized and reinforced, initiate social and economic changes key for the success of the SDG implementation and progress towards more sustainable societies.
What is an Act of Kindness for the SDGs?
An Act of Kindness by any person is a generous, intentional gesture or action towards another person, being, or the environment. These acts may range in scale and impact, such as organizing a beach clean-up, working on clean energy projects, campaigning against gender inequality or violent extremism, or mobilizing a community drive to save an endangered species.
The campaign consists of two phases. The first phase from 2018 to 2019 will focus on building youth momentum on kindness by generating 250,000 inspiring stories by young people. The second phase from the year 2020 onwards will mobilize United Nations Member States to declare an International Decade on Acts of Kindness.
About MGIEP:
The UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) is UNESCO’s Category 1 Research Institute that focuses on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4.7 towards education for building peaceful and sustainable societies across the world. In line with its vision of ‘Transforming Education for Humanity’, the Institute employs the whole-brain approach to education, with programmes that are designed to mainstream Socio-Emotional Learning in education systems, innovate digital pedagogies and to put youth as global citizens at the centre of the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development
For the day's agenda and detailed activities: https://bit.ly/31JKw9i
For more information and media requests:
Ms. Radhika Bhatnagar
Communications and Social Media Officer,
UNESCO MGIEP,
email: r.bhatnagar@unesco.org