India: UNODC, educator partners boost capacities, drive youth action on SDG 16 with RiseUp4Peace Initiative

New Delhi, India/31 March 2024: Young people today live in a world marked by conflicts, crises, and inequalities, profoundly and disproportionately impacting their lives. Incorporating SDG 16 in education is pivotal to addressing their growing vulnerabilities and risksrelated to drugs and crime, unsafe behaviors, violence, and mental health challenges. At the same time, it is important to empower young people to build resilience and become positive catalysts of change in societies, make ethical decisions, champion peace and advocate for more just and inclusive societies.

With this vision at the core, UNODC has spearheaded RiseUp4Peace educational initiative, in collaboration with the Kamla Nehru Public School Phagwara (KNPS) and educator partners from India and beyond. Launched last month, RiseUp4Peace builds a vibrant community of practice to strengthen education on peace, integrity, and the rule of law—key aspects of SDG16—by building educator capacities, engaging young people, promoting cross-learning and co-creating educational interventions.

In this direction, a series of interactive capacity building dialogues were held with over 1,056 educators and students from India and other countries, as part of RiseUp4Peace. Discussions focused on demystifying SDG 16 and innovative classroom interventions to educate, engage and empower young learners on peace, the rule of law and integrity.

Veteran Indian education leaders Ms. Paramjit Kaur Dhillon, Principal (Admin and Innov), KNPS Phagwara and Dr. Ashok Pandey, Director, Ahlcon Group of Schools, Delhi, and Mr. Samarth Pathak, UNODC Communications Officer for South Asia, led focused trainings to sensitise educators with insights, strategies and examples.

The trainings enhanced participants’ understanding and knowledge on SDG 16-related themes and the importance of youth action, good practices in spearheading school-led initiatives, and practical ways for teachers to engage students on themes related to rule of law and ethical behaviours in the classrooms, using group activities as well as tech tools. 

Knowledge products developed by UNODC, including handbooks for teachers at the primary and secondary level (developed under the GRACE Initiative) and the Youth Empowerment Accelerator Framework were also shared in the dialogues.

Demonstrating their enthusiasm, educators shared videos expressing their unwavering commitment to the RiseUp4Peace initiative, with a resounding message: "Education on the rule of law, peace, and integrity matters!"

In parallel, the RiseUp4Peace initiative extended its reach to the academic sphere by training 80 postgraduate students of the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi. Students were equipped with skills in advocacy and communications to amplify social awareness and action on SDGs, crime prevention, and the rule of law. The insightful session featured students engaging in lively discussions on real-life experiences and examples related to SDG 16.

UNODC believes that by investing in educators, we are investing in a generation of young people who will carry the torch of peace and integrity forward.

This activity contributes to SDG 4, SDG 16 and SDG 17: https://sdg-tracker.org/

Join the RiseUp4Peace initiative: t.ly/dmkXQ