The Youth Ambassadors training program aims to engage individuals aged 18 to 25 from socioeconomically vulnerable backgrounds who demonstrate strong leadership potential in youth-related political issues. This initiativeprepares them to participate in national and international forums, where they represent and advocate for their communities and social collectives in the pursuit of promoting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through the development of interpersonal, cognitive, and advocacy skills, including leadership, critical thinking, and communication, as well as strengthening knowledge about key United Nations topics, they are equipped to promote social change and act as multipliers of the SDGs.
Thus, Youth Ambassadors serves as a platform for strengthening the skills and competencies needed by youth to act as social agents on local, national, and international stages, and, above all, as key players in promoting sustainable, participatory, and inclusive communities.
The training activities consist of leadership exercises and the stimulation of inclusive and productive debate, enabling young people to find original solutions spontaneously and apply them simply and effectively to their own realities.
Each training edition presents different themes and approaches based on studies and evaluations of the needs and opportunities. Topics include peace and justice challenges, gender equality, poverty eradication, entrepreneurship, environment, healthand well-being, among others.
Youth Ambassadors is a UNODC program, in partnership with Instituto CNP Brasil. Since 2016, six editions were held, and 150 Youth Ambassadors were certified.
The sixth edition of the program, held in in 2023, trained 25 new youth ambassadors from the state of Pernambuco in advocating for policies and strategies to prevent violence locally, nationally, and globally. The project included a series of activities organized into thematic modules addressing the pillars of the SDGs, them being: Planet, People, Prosperity, and Peace. The aim was to provide a broad and in-depth understanding of the challenges and opportunities related to sustainable development.
Previous editions took place in Brasília/DF (2016 and 2017), Salvador/BA (2017), Belém/PA (2019) and São Paulo/SP (2020).
Empowering and engaging youth in the fight against drugs and crime remains central to UNODC global efforts. Multilingual tools to facilitate free access and dissemination of knowledge are available on the UNODC global website.
