First ever World Youth Conference for Kindness held in India
New Delhi, August 23, 2019 : The President of the Republic of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the first World Youth Conference on Kindness organised by the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development and Ministry of Human Resource Development on the theme ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam: Gandhi for the Contemporary World: Celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’ at the VigyanBhavan in New Delhi today.Union Human Resource Development Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ also graced the occasion. The conference saw participation from approximately 1,000 youth representing over 27 countries such as Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe.
This conference was organised with the aim to impart critical competencies (i.e. empathy, compassion, mindfulness and critical inquiry) in global youth to inspire, empower and enable them to transform themselves and build long-lasting peace in their communities. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, the conference aimed to provide global youth and policymakers an innovative, engaging and inspiring platform to come together and strive to discover ground-breaking pathways to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Speaking on the occasion the HRD Minister expressed his happiness to participate in “World Youth Conference 2019 on Kindness”.He added that Ministry of HRD touches lives of crores of Indian population. He expressed his willingness in protecting the environment, eradicating poverty, empowering women, raising the standard of living, improving health through quality education. He appealed to the world youth leaders to contribute in making a better world based on Gandhian values.
The Minister said that, in recent times we are divided within the family, confined ourselves to computers and have made smartphones our world. Bapu’s thoughts can prove helpful for us in dealing with these modern day problems arising out of materialisation. We can herald a new era by following the path of peace and non-violence and converting vision of Gandhiji into a mission. He said that this event is an attempt to revive the time-tested values of kindness, non-violence, love and to draw insights for its management.
On this occasion, the tenth edition of UNESCO MGIEPs’ flagship publication, The Blue Dot was unveiled. The latest edition focuses on the Institute’s main area of work, primarily in social and emotional learning.Chairman, Governing Board, UNESCO MGIEP, Shri J S Rajput; Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, R. Subrahmanyam; Founder, Myna Mahila Foundation, Suhani Jalota were also present among others.
