November 2025 Newsletter

Exciting News: Applications for Young Leaders for Peace 2026 Are Now Open!

This month we are pleased to highlight Young Leaders for Peace (YLP), our two-week summer leadership programme co-created with the University for Peace in Costa Rica.

YLP offers high school students an immersive experience where they explore the foundations of peace, develop practical communication and leadership skills, and learn through hands-on activities in Costa Rica.Through workshops with UPEACE faculty, guided reflection, and environmental excursions, participants strengthen their confidence, problem-solving abilities, and understanding of how peace, community, and sustainability intersect.Applications for the 2026 cohort are now open, and we invite you to share this opportunity with your networks.

2025 Cohort

Eight high school students from the U.S. committed to a two-week immersive experience in June 2025, at the University for Peace campus in Costa Rica. YLP was a hands-on journey into what practicing peacebuilding means as young leaders. Through reflection, field trips, creative sessions and workshops, students actively participated in conflict resolution tools, sustainability, and leadership.

YLP Spotlight

"I used to think peace was just the absence of conflict. But now I see it’s about belonging — it’s about creating a space where everyone feels valued, safe, and seen. YLP showed me that peace is layered. It’s not just something you learn — it’s something you live. It’s in how you listen, how you show up for others, and how you learn from differences."

— Natalia, YLP (2025)

"To lead this first cohort of Young Leaders for Peace was to lead something overwhelmingly special, inspiring, and necessary. From practicing nonviolent communication and conflict transformation tolearning zumba and dancing in the rain, YLP 2025 was an experience much greater than any one person— and we are just getting started."

— Krista Smith, UPEACE NY Program Director

Recent Events

UPEACE & Columbia University School of Social Work Bringing Peace to Practice: Integrating Peace Education into Social Work Melissa Wild and Krista Smith recently presented at a Columbia University School of Social Work (CSSW) faculty meeting, continuing a rich dialogue between the two institutions. Their talk explored the synergy between peacebuilding and social work education, highlighting opportunities for academic collaboration.

UPEACE NY Women

It was so wonderful to have Michelle Helman—Doctoral Candidate and Anu and Naveen Jain Peace Innovation and Health Fellow—facilitate such a rich conversation with us.

Michelle gathered with a group of amazing women to envision possibilities for peace and guided a discussion on data justice, data feminism, and design justice as key tools to build feminist peace— drawing from her research at UPEACE with the Green String Network on organizational culture change, digital peace tech, and healing-centered peacebuilding.

Upcoming Events

December 2025 at the UN Headquarters!

Join us in December, around the 45th anniversary of the establishment of the University for Peace, to learn how we are working towards peace around the world!

Invite with date and time to be circulated soon. For more info email us at info@upeaceny.org

Reflections on Peace

In 1980, pursuant to the United Nations Resolution 35/55, the University for Peace (UPEACE) was established. Through those UPEACE graduates now placed in leadership positions around the world, both within and outside the UN system, UPEACE delivers the critical skills and education needed to ensure our global community is moving toward a more just and sustainable future for people and planet. Following the 45th anniversary of the establishment of its institution, the University for Peace plans to host the first roundtable of its kind: UPEACE Around the World. This session invites dialogue on how to move the world towards a sustainable peace amidst increasingly violent conflict - with both a global & local perspective. UPEACE has always played a formative role in fostering regional stability. Beginning in Central America, where UPEACE hosted some of the first encounters and peace dialogues between warring countries - these successes were awarded by then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, with an extension of UPEACE’s mandate to take this work globally. This roundtable will be an opportunity to discuss lessons learned, and to see how such lessons can and should be applied to meet the moment.