CHANDIGARH: 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 Mr. Jitender Bhatia, Finance Secretary, GGDSD Managing Committee; Dr. Ajay Sharma, Principal, GGDSD College; Mr. Dev Tyde, Senior Gandhian Activist; Rev. Fr. Kirialdeniyage Antoney Lakshman, Rector, St. Nicholas’ International College, Negombo, Sri Lanka; Mr. Mohammed Shahnaz Bin Mawardi, Head Delegate, Ministry of Youth & Sports, Government of Malaysia; Mr. Jadzreill Bin Jaafar, International Youth Centre, Malaysia; Mr. Deepak Dhiman, Senior Journalist; 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, Principal, GGDSD College. “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.”
Day 1 highlights
Girls’ leadership at the centre of the room. A fishbowl dialogue on gender equality and girls’ leadership was chaired by Ms. Shabina Ali of the Centre for Peace & Spirituality (CPS) International, Kolkata, and co-chaired by Dr. Nidhi Choudhary of GGDSD College. It was an open circle in which anyone could step in and take a seat. The speakers were three young women leaders from Malaysia: Ms. Mirsha Naresh Kumar and Ms. Nur Najwa Hussein, both Gold Award recipients of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, and Ms. Saba Sharma, winner of the ASIAN Girls Human Rights Award.
Schools take the floor. 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), Mr. Ajatshatru (Play for Peace, India) and Mr. Tan Lit Voon (Malaysia). Dr. Ajay Sharma and Mr. Pramod Sharma presented the prizes. The winning schools are:
1. St. Nicholas’ International College, Negombo, Sri Lanka,
2. Guru Gobind Singh Public School, Gurdaspur
3. Guru Gobind Singh Public School, Hoshiarpur
4. Chitkara International School, Chandigarh
5. Mount Carmel School, Chandigarh
#BreakFree: facing HIV stigma head-on. 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 Mr. Sandeep Mittal, Deputy Director, Chandigarh State AIDS Control Society (CSACS), and co-chaired by Mr. Jitender Dahiya, Deputy Director (IEC), CSACS. Moderated by Dr. Krishna Athal (YUVA, Mauritius), the panellists included Mr. Muhammad Raif bin Kamarul Anwar (Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia), Ms. Nurul Qistina Balqis Binti Radzuan (Universiti Utara Malaysia) and Ms. 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.
Youth voices on a warming planet. A session on climate justice and climate-resilient cities heard from Mr. Soyed Zhadul Alom Opu (Youth Foundation of Bangladesh), Mr. Dev Desai (Gujarat Sarvodaya Mandal, Ahmedabad) and Ms. Tengku Saidatul Najihah (Malaysian Youth Exchange Alumni Association). At lunch, a “Human Library” let delegates interview prominent participants as living books. The Global Youth Marketplace and Success Stories Showcase then featured Ms. Esther Ezhilnanggai (MAGAA, Malaysia), Mr. Laxman Gole (Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal) and Dr. Krishna Athal (YUVA, Mauritius).
Peace under stadium lights. The day ended with a Special Evening of Sports, Music & Cultural Exchange. Delegates first travelled together to the Ministry of Sports, the Tricity’s largest sports hub, in SAS Nagar, Punjab. From there they went to the NAMO Cricket League at Tau Devi Lal Stadium, Panchkula, a grassroots movement of more than 3,200 teams and 50,000 players from Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand. The evening brought together live cricket, a performance by a renowned Punjabi singer and a shared dinner.
Dr. Ajay Sharma, Mr. Jitender Bhatia and Mr. Pramod Sharma presented the prizes.
Partners
International and national partners of GYPF2026 include Chitkara University; the Chandigarh State AIDS Control Society (CSACS); the International Youth Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; St. Nicholas’ International College, Sri Lanka; the Youth Foundation of Bangladesh; YUVA Mauritius; AIHM, Chandigarh; and the World Assembly of Youth (WAY).
Coming up on Day 2: Gandhi Jayanti
On 2 October, delegates will begin at 6:30 am with tree plantation at AIHM 42 and a clean-up drive at Mini Lake. The rest of the day brings the GYPF Action Lab with 90-second youth pitches, the adoption of the Chandigarh Youth Peace Declaration 2026, a reflection circle titled “What Changed in Me: I am the CHANGE”, and the GYPF Youth Leadership Awards & Recognition Ceremony.
