District 6900 is a designated Champion (!) in the Zones 33 & 34 Youth & Peace in Action (YPA) program, the largest local peacebuilding initiative in Rotary history. On Int’l. Peace Day, Sept. 21st, Youth & Peace in Action (YPA) launched with founding support from Rotary Zones 33 & 34 and collaboration from D6860. This is the largest local peacebuilding initiative in Rotary Int'l. history. Early on, 300+ high schools and youth clubs were first to apply, and across the Zones, 4,300 students are now registered!

The heart of YPA is an Online Peace Platform with Courses, Challenges, Case Studies, Communities. The first module for the My Peacebuilder Foundations student course opened Nov. 15th. In our district, 57 high schools and youth clubs in District 6900 are signed up. Student registration, available at no cost to schools and clubs, closes December 31. Contact: info@youthpeaceaction.org for more information. Students who complete the course are equipped to imagine peace projects and qualify for a follow-on training in early 2022 called Leading Peace Project Teams.

Teachers, student club advisors and Rotarians in participating Districts can take a parallel course: Guiding Young Peacebuilders. Any Rotarian in our District can join in by registering for the online YPA Guiding Young Peacebuilders course, at no cost, and learn what peacebuilding involving Rotarians and young people is all about: https://tinyurl.com/GYPRotary. There’s a YPA online discussion community available with the course.

YPA is endorsed by Rotarian Action Group for Peace, Rotary International strategic partner Institute for Economics & Peace, and Alliance for Peacebuilding. Building on this year's strong YPA launch, future plans are already underway. Watch this short video about YPA 2021-22, and reach out to learn more and express interest for 2022-23!