25 May 2021, Hong Kong, China / Hiroshima, Japan - The United Nations Institute of Training and Research (UNITAR) and ITS Education Asia will jointly launch the UNITAR Youth Ambassador Asia Pacific Programme in Hong Kong and other cities in China. The 10-week programme empowers high school students to help our world build back better, greener, and stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic. It trains the young people on sustainable development and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“Youth are the driving force of social development and how we act together to advance the SDGs now determines their future, not ours,”
says Mr. Danny Harrington, Managing Director of ITS Education Asia. “We are grateful to UNITAR for recognizing our unwavering commitment towards education for sustainable development and the furtherment of global citizenship of young leaders in Hong Kong, China and across Asia Pacific.”
“Our engagement at UpLink, the World Economic Forum’s platform to crowdsource innovation to advance the SDGs, has highlighted that youth are raring to create systemic change,”
says Mr. Kenneth Kwok, Founder and CEO of Global Citizen Capital and KIDsforSDGs. “This Youth Ambassador programme will be one where youth get to co-design the framework and co-curate the content for their future.”
“We are excited to collaborate with ITS Education Asia and to scale education in sustainable development through innovation,”
says Ms. Mihoko Kumamoto, Director of UNITAR Division for Prosperity and UNITAR Hiroshima Office. UNITAR runs various programmes to develop the capacity of young leaders across the globe.
The UNITAR Youth Ambassador Asia Pacific Programme will debut in Hong Kong in September 2021 with the support of 20 official school partners. It will be expanded to various cities in China in 2022, followed by other Asia-Pacific countries in 2023.
About ITS Education Asia
ITS Education Asia has built an ecosystem of learning opportunities and educational services in Hong Kong including: a one-of-a-kind alternative school for students whom the mainstream system has failed; an open exam centre; a wide range of admissions support for schools and universities; and a range of co-curricular partnerships. ITS has a history of innovation: it is still the only alternative school in Hong Kong, and launched SDG Education in 2020. The Young Changemaker Incubator is at the core of the ITS ecosystem and will continue to grow by adding related components such as WFUNA and UNITAR courses through its not-for-profit foundation and by working with aligned organizations such as KIDsforSDGs.
About UNITAR
The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) provides innovative learning solutions to individuals, organizations and institutions to enhance global and country-level action for a better future. Located in Hiroshima, the Division for Prosperity trains present and future change-makers from developing countries, particularly youth and women, so they may shape a more inclusive, sustainable, and prosperous world.