The youth population has long been at the forefront of grassroots efforts in creating youth-led movements, organizations, and networks to build cultures of peace, justice and healing.
To support the leadership skills of the youth population, and to equip them with tools to strengthen their youth-led and youth-focused initiatives in forwarding meaningful engagement socially and culturally, United Religions Initiative with their resource partner Youth for Peace International and community partner CEEO India, conducted a 5-day long immersive workshop for community leaders on 21st-century skills and adaptive leadership in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir from June7 2023 to June 11 2023.
Through this program, 15+ dedicated participants from Anantnag, Pulwama, Poonch Jammu, Srinagar and other districts across Jammu and Kashmir, and diverse faith communities came together to strengthen their holistic leadership skills. Focus was laid on an immersive learning experience covering themes such as gender, inclusivity, dialogic communication, artistic expression, wellbeing and peacebuilding amongst others.
The workshop was facilitated by Saumya Aggarwal, Co-founder, Youth for Peace International and Tanya Sablok, Expressive Arts Facilitator and CC Liaison officer for United Religions Initiative in North India, who were supported by Mannat Dhillon. Post this program, participants expressed that they felt ready to reimagine and redesign youth-led initiatives in their communities.
One of the participants mentioned that before attending this workshop, he used to feel anxious and now feels present in the moment and has tools to manage his anxiety. Participants will be implementing their learnings and leading programs for societal transformation in their respective communities.
The community of young people from J&K will be coming together to further the vision of the ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’, and building cultures of peace, justice and healing. Participants of this program are hopeful to receive the support, resources and space to engage more actively in their communities and decision-making spaces.
