Event Recap — UNESCO-MGIEP Youth Advisory Group Annual Meeting 2026

Co-Designing Education for Peace: Youth Leadership, Meaningful Engagement, and the Future of Sustainable Development

I am elated to share that I had the incredible opportunity to participate in the UNESCO-MGIEP Youth Advisory Group (YAG) Annual Meeting at the UNESCO-MGIEP office in New Delhi from 21–23 May 2026.

Over three enriching days, we worked on refining UNESCO-MGIEP’s Mini Strategy for Youth aligned with its Medium-Term Strategy (2026–2029), while engaging in learning capsules on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), Drivers of Peace, Intercultural Competencies, and Storytelling through Social Media. A particularly notable experience was the community immersion visit, where we explored the “Hate to Harmony” embroidery initiative alongside young people from grassroots communities.

Alt Text [Visual/Image Description] — Collage of five images from the UNESCO-MGIEP’s Youth Advisory Group Meeting, with the picture of Agrasen Ki Baoli (a 60-meter-long and 15-meter-wide historical stepwell in New Delhi, India) in the background. Five images are as follows: 1. Proceedings from the workshop discussion on Mini-strategy on Youth 2026–29 (Top-left); 2. Group picture of YAG members and MGIEP Team (top); 3. UNESCO-MGIEP’s logo at the wall outside its office (Centre); 4. Group selfie of YAG members and MGIEP team at an informal social setup (bottom-right); and Group picture of YAG members along with Obijiofor Aginam, Director. Additionally, there’s an image of Abhishek Kumar’s YAG badge (designed around each YAG member’s profile and area of interest). It reads: Abhishek Kumar, Youth Advisory Group (2025–2027) — A tree whose roots hold the memory of the earth and the canopy asks to shelter everyone, a symbol of knowledge that is only meaningful when it is universally accessible, and leadership that measures its reach by who it protects.

One of my key reflections from the meeting is that Education for Peace cannot be achieved through top-down approaches alone. Young people must be recognised not merely as beneficiaries, but as co-designers, agenda-setters, and solution providers. Equally important is translating global frameworks such as SDG 4.7 and the 2023 Recommendation on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Sustainable Development into locally relevant, culturally rooted, and community-driven action.

As someone working at the intersection of universally accessible education, climate action and disaster risk reduction, disability inclusion, and indigenous and traditional knowledge systems, I was particularly encouraged by discussions on meaningful youth engagement and the transformative potential of education to address the common concerns of humankind.

I am grateful to the UNESCO-MGIEP team and fellow YAG members for the insightful discussions, shared learning, and camaraderie throughout the workshop.

Like the squirrel in the Rāmāyaṇa who contributed to building the Śrī Rāmasetu, I hope to make my own modest yet meaningful contribution towards transforming education into a force multiplier for peace, justice, sustainability, and civilizational continuum. I share this update with deep gratitude to Maa Saraswati (Mother Goddess of knowledge, wisdom, speech, art forms, and supreme consciousness), Guru-Kṛpā (blessings of Gurus), and everyone who has been part of this evolutionary journey over the years.

At the end, I would like to reiterate that together, let’s reaffirm our commitment to address the “Common Concerns of Humankind” (planetary crisis, polycrisis, and threat multipliers) by collectively ‘Building Forward Better’ (a climate-resilient, just, and sustainable world), where ‘We All Belong’ (an inclusive, equitable, and universally accessible society).

UNESCO-MGIEP Team —

Obijiofor Aginam, Director | Moritz Bilagher, Programme Specialist | Ankita Singh, Associate Project Officer | Richa Bansal, Associate Project Officer | Fazolatkhon Nasretdinova, Project Officer | Hritik Gupta, Associate Project Officer | Sana Khan, Head of Communications and Team

Youth Advisory Group Members —

Adv. Abhishek Kumar (India) | Inés Yábar (Peru) | Falit Sijariya (India) | Erik van der Zanden (Netherlands) | Kate Mallory (USA) | Adventhius Immanuel Karo (Indonesia) | Dariya Bilyalova (Kazakhstan) | Christopher Seagateng (Botswana) | Rianka Chance (The Caribbean Islands | Sarah El Gabery (Egypt)

Check out the link to know more about the UNESCO-MGIEP’s Youth Advisory Group (2025–2027)

[embed]Youth Advisory Group 2025-2027 The Youth Advisory Group (YAG) is an extension to the Governing Board Members at UNESCO MGIEP. A group of six, the YAG…mgiep.unesco.org

UNESCO MGIEP: Nurturing Peaceful Mindsets

MGIEP is UNESCO’s Category 1 Research Institute focused on Transforming Education towards SDG 4.7 through programmes that promote social and emotional learning, innovate digital pedagogies and empower youth. Our Vision is “Nurturing Peaceful Mindsets”. We believe in transforming education with Social and Emotional Learning for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

[embed]UNESCO MGIEP | Nurturing Peaceful Mindsets The UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) is UNESCO's category 1…mgiep.unesco.org

UNESCO-MGIEP’s Youth Advisory Group (YAG) is a global cohort of 10 young leaders working across sectors such as education, peacebuilding, social innovation, and sustainable development, who came together for an in-person, on-the-ground engagement with UNESCO-MGIEP teams to contribute to key institutional priorities.

Established in 2025, UNESCO MGIEP’s YAG functions as a consultative body that provides direct, impartial feedback and suggestions on the Institute’s youth projects. This aims to ensure that young people’s perspectives are heard and taken into account, and that they are not mere beneficiaries of policy but also co-architects.

[embed]#education #peacebuilding #sustainabledevelopment #educationforpeace #yag | UNESCO MGIEP Recently, our Youth Advisory Group (YAG), a global cohort of 10 young leaders aged 18-35 and working across sectors…www.linkedin.com

The key takeaways that emerged were:

• UNESCO MGIEP should aim to partner with young people as co-designers, agenda-setters, and solution providers to build youth-driven, community-sustained movements that strengthen demand for Education for Peace — operationalising global normative frameworks within the ecosystems where young people live, learn, and lead.
• The main objective of the strategy should be to spark and foster a global youth movement to co-design, demand, and co-deliver Education for Peace in line with SDG 4 Target 7 and the 2023 Recommendation on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Sustainable Development.
• Translating the goals of the 2023 Recommendation on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Sustainable Development, and SDG 4 Target 7 of the Education 2030 Framework for Action into locally rooted, community-driven action.

About the Author —

Adv. Abhishek Kumar, Founder and Curator of The Sangyan | द संज्ञान, Project Drishtant | प्रकल्प दृष्टान्त, Project Saralīkaraṇa | प्रकल्प सरलीकरण, and the ‘Build Forward Better’ Campaign