UNITAR Hiroshima Youth Ambassador Programme

UNITAR

Today, the world is home to 1.9 billion young people between the ages of 10 to 24. While these young people face unprecedented challenges, they can also be a driving force for sustainable development and peace. From ending extreme poverty to protecting our oceans, we need a generation of young leaders who are meaningfully engaged with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and are working to achieve them.

Each year since 2010, the UNITAR Hiroshima Youth Ambassador Programme has been training around 30 Hiroshima high school students to deepen their understanding of global issues and the SDGs, develop skills to initiate and drive innovative projects that address local needs and connect with experts and other young activists from around the world.

It seeks to enhance the Youth Ambassadors’ future career opportunities and empower them with the ability to create a better world.

I’ve come to realize that living in Hiroshima has allowed me to think about peace deeply. It also means that we have that many more opportunities and platforms for us to communicate about peace." — Sakura Omura, high school student, UNITAR Youth Ambassador Hiroshima 2020

UNITAR Hiroshima Office, the only United Nations agency in Japan’s Chugoku and Shikoku regions, positions this Youth Ambassador Programme as one of its most important commitments to the local community and its people.

Since 2020, the Programme has become a joint programme with the UNITAR Association.

UNITAR is grateful to the following municipalities and organizations for their support of the Youth Ambassador Programme:

Hiroshima Prefecture
International Soroptimist Hiroshima Central
PLAYSPACE
Kakuwaka Civic Group

Programme Snapshot

2024 Outcomes

The 2024 UNITAR Hiroshima Youth Ambassador Programme trained 30 high school students in Hiroshima Prefecture on nuclear disarmament and peacebuilding through interactive workshops, sessions, and cross-cultural exchanges.

The Youth Ambassadors:

Learned about nuclear disarmament and peacebuilding through innovative workshops, hands-on learning and discussions
Collaborated with youth participants of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) Youth Free Leaders Fund programme to organize an international youth conference and develop a youth declaration
Built collaborative networks with other youth to support sustainable peacebuilding initiatives
Developed their personalized “My Action Plans” to promote peace locally and globally

Programme Phases

Phase 1: From June to August 2024, participants engaged in learning activities and collaborated with 49 youth from around the world who were visiting Hiroshima under the UNODA Youth Free Leaders Fund programme. Together, they developed declarations and action plans advocating for a world free of nuclear weapons.
Phase 2: From September to December 2024, the top eight ambassadors translated their learning into personalized “My Action Plans” and began taking concrete steps to promote peacebuilding within their communities.