September 2025 Newsletter

In case you missed it:

Ambassador Ramu Damodaran Appointed as Permanent Observer

As of April 2024, Ramu Damodaran has been serving as the Permanent Observer of the University for Peace to the United Nations. His official appointment was memorialized in a high-level meeting with Vice Rector Juan Carlos Sainz-Borgo and UN Secretary-General Guterres in the UN Secretary-General’s office. They discussed the importance of the UPEACE Mission to the UN and in implementation of peace education for achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

UPEACE NY Summer Launch!

On July 31 2025, UPEACE NY brought together 50+ changemakers for an inspiring evening of live music (featuring MorDance and Kira Metcalf), networking, and silent auctions—all to advance peace education worldwide. Critical funding continues to be raised for: Scholarships for the Young Leaders for Peace Program, widening participation in peace educationWorkshops for mentorship, intergroup dialogue, and promotion of peace as a practice; and Critical Training Programs for rising leaders in education, technology and the public sector. Special thanks to our host, UPEACE NY Board Member Azin Aliabadi, to our honorees Mariam Korangy & Lea Carpenter, and to all attendees who are helping bridge local support with global peacebuilding.

Meet all of our Future Peacebuilders!

Young Leaders for Peace (YLP) Program Launch!

Real leadership does not begin with age. Young people are not just the future; they are already leading. Young Leaders for Peace (YLP) was born from that belief. It was created with the purpose of opening the door to peace education for youth, creating meaningful spaces for learning, reflection, and most importantly, leadership. This past June 2025, our first cohort traveled to Costa Rica for the successful two-week launch of Young Leaders for Peace! Currently, YLP alumni are working on their capstone projects.

Future Peacebuilders Program (FPP)

Launching in Summer 2024, this group of Fellows and Interns contribute crucial youth voices and diverse perspectives to the foundational programming of UPEACE NY. They represent varying backgrounds and stages in their professional and academic careers, ranging from high school to graduate level students. We welcomed a new cohort of Future Peacebuilders in 2025, who participated in the United Nations High-level Political Forum and other meetings at the United Nations Headquarters. UPEACE NY looks forward to cultivating a growing network of Future Peacebuilders, highlighting mentorship and sharing of resources.

High-level Political Forum

UPEACE had a great time at this year’s High-level Political Forum (July 14–24), which reviewed progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a focus on SDG 17 (Partnerships) and SDG 14 (Life Below Water). Members of UPEACE NY joined events on gender inequality, ocean protection, and global partnerships. Special Advisor and UPEACE NY Executive Director, Melissa Wild, spoke at Peace Boat’s session on safeguarding environmental ecosystems. Wild emphasized the way that peace education supports planetary health, and how UPEACE promotes a systems understanding to peace, making the link between environmental and human resilience very clear.

UPEACE NY Women

Established with support from UPEACE Global Ambassador, Dr. Robin Stern, UPEACE NY Women is a working group that meets quarterly to hold critical conversations around how to build peace, and to provide guidance and support to UPEACE NY at a key moment in its development. UPEACE NY Women focuses on conversations around intergenerational peacebuilding, emotionally intelligent leadership, and youth empowerment. Inspired by the women in our network, this working group is inclusive of all people, regardless of gender.

Reflections on peace:

United Nations at 80

The University for Peace was established pursuant to United Nations Resolution 35/55, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1980. As the UN turns 80, we reflect on its legacy of advancing peace, justice, and cooperation across the globe. As the only university in the world with an explicit and central focus on peace, and the only university whose establishment was created pursuant to a UN resolution, UPEACE is an important testament to the vision of a global and concrete commitment to peace education, and to the reality that, in fact, peace can be taught. Forty-five years later, this mission remains as urgent as ever.