PeaceJam to host first Youth Summit in Costa Rica

Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams will headline the first PeaceJam Youth Summit in Costa Rica next month.

The event, scheduled for Nov. 9-11, will focus on creating “sustainable and inclusive strategies and policies to reduce gun violence in the Americas,” according to a press release for the event.

It will feature Williams, civil rights experts, and youth leaders from the United States and Central America, who will convene in San José to address gun violence.

On Friday, Nov. 9, Nobel Peace Laureate and former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias will host participants at his home to “create inclusive and sustainable youth-led solutions to gun violence using tools of diplomacy, advocacy, collaboration, civil discourse, civic tools, drafting of treaties, legislation, and campaigns.”

The following day, Williams will lead a similarly themed summit at the University for Peace.

The PeaceJam Foundation is an international organization with a mission to empower youth through mentorship from Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. Katherine Stanley Obando, editor of The Tico Times, serves on its Board of Directors.

Williams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for her involvement in an international campaign against landmines. Arias had received the honor 10 years prior for helping draft a peace plan during a period of armed conflict throughout Central America.

After November’s PeaceJam Youth Summit, the organization plans to reconvene participants this spring in Florida, where youth will launch a “call to action” to more than 700 attendees.

The Costa Rican summit will be filmed, live streamed and promoted on social media.

For information on partnering with PeaceJam or supporting the event, contact Dr. Kate Cumbo, Executive Director of PeaceJam Foundation at kate@peacejam.org.