The 19th Global Youth Peace Fest (GYPF2026) opened today at GGDSD College, Sector 32C. It brought young people from six countries onto one campus with one urgent question: how do we turn peace from an idea into a daily practice? Organised by Yuvsatta (Youth for Peace) in collaboration with GGDSD College, the day moved from cooperative games in the morning to a packed stadium at night, with difficult conversations on gender, HIV stigma and climate in between. The festival runs until 2 October, Gandhi Jayanti and the International Day of Non-Violence.Delegates had arrived a day earlier for a “Culture Without Borders” exchange that included the Rock Garden, a walk at Sukhna Lake and a Global Friendship Dinner. This morning began with ice-breaker cooperative games led by Mr. Ajatshatru of Play for Peace, India. The games were designed to dissolve the distance between strangers before the formal Inaugural Ceremony.The inaugural dignitaries were Jitender Bhatia, Finance Secretary, GGDSD Managing Committee; Dr Ajay Sharma, Principal, GGDSD College; Dev Tyde, Senior Gandhian Activist; Rev. Fr. Kirialdeniyage Antoney Lakshman, Rector, St. Nicholas’ International College, Negombo, Sri Lanka; Mohammed Shahnaz Bin Mawardi, Head Delegate, Ministry of Youth & Sports, Government of Malaysia; Jadzreill Bin Jaafar, International Youth Centre, Malaysia; and Dr Krishna Athal, Executive Director, YUVA, Mauritius.“It is a matter of pride for GGDSD College to host young people from across borders on one campus,” said Dr.Ajay Sharma. “When students from different countries listen to each other, peace stops being a textbook idea and becomes lived experience.”“For thirty-six years, Yuvsatta has believed that youth are not just the future but the present of peace building,” said Mr. Pramod Sharma, Founder, Yuvsatta. “GYPF brings them together to turn values into action.”
On day 1, girls’ leadership at the centre of the room saw a fishbowl dialogue on gender equality and girls’ leadership chaired by Shabina Ali of the Centre for Peace & Spirituality (CPS) International, Kolkata, and co-chaired by Dr. Nidhi Choudhary of GGDSD College. The speakers were three young women leaders from Malaysia: Mirsha Naresh Kumar and Nur Najwa Hussein, both Gold Award recipients of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, and Saba Sharma, winner of the ASIAN Girls Human Rights Award.Student teams tested their arguments on the Sustainable Development Goals at the 4th Inter-School SDGs Youth Parliament Trophy. The judges were Dr. Krishna Athal (YUVA, Mauritius), Ajatshatru (Play for Peace, India) and Tan Lit Voon (Malaysia). Dr. Ajay Sharma and Pramod Sharma presented the prizes.In the “Walk in My Shoes” empathy exercise, delegates stepped into the lived experience of people living with HIV. A youth dialogue followed, chaired by Sandeep Mittal, Deputy Director, Chandigarh State AIDS Control Society (CSACS), and co-chaired by Jitender Dahiya, Deputy Director (IEC), CSACS. Moderated by Dr. Krishna Athal (YUVA, Mauritius), the panellists included Muhammad Raif bin Kamarul Anwar (Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia), Nurul Qistina Balqis Binti Radzuan (Universiti Utara Malaysia) and Dinesha Fernando (St. Nicholas’ International College, Sri Lanka). Delegates then gathered for a group photograph with the Red Ribbon #BreakFree banner. A voluntary HIV testing and counselling camp and a Peace Wall ran through the day, turning awareness into action.
