About the opportunity
What this programme is offering
Lead Change Through Intercultural Leadership
As societies become increasingly interconnected yet fragmented by polarisation, inequality, and rapid technological change, there is a growing need for leaders who can bridge divides, foster trust, and mobilise collective action across differences.
The Youth for Peace: UNESCO Intercultural Leadership Programme is UNESCO’s flagship initiative for emerging leaders who are driving social cohesion, inclusion, and peace through intercultural dialogue. The programme is founded on the conviction that intercultural dialogue is not simply a communication tool — it is a transformative form of leadership that equips people and communities to navigate complexity, build trust across differences, and develop shared solutions to common challenges.
Through leadership development, mentorship, community action, and global engagement, the programme builds a new generation of intercultural leaders who translate dialogue into meaningful change in their communities and beyond.
2026 Theme: Human Connection and Dialogue in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence is transforming how people communicate, learn, work, and engage across cultures — creating new opportunities for participation, education, and connection while raising urgent questions about trust, inclusion, representation, and equality.
Participants will explore how AI is reshaping intercultural relationships and social cohesion, engaging with challenges including:
Misinformation, hate speech, and online polarisation
Algorithmic bias, stereotyping, and digital discrimination
Unequal access to technology, infrastructure, education, and digital skills
The representation of diverse cultures, languages, and knowledge systems within AI
At the same time, participants will examine how AI can advance intercultural understanding through multilingual communication, accessibility, civic participation, cultural preservation, conflict prevention, and new forms of cross-border collaboration.
Through this lens, participants will develop dialogue-based responses that place human connection and intercultural understanding at the centre of technological change.
Selected participants will join a global community of intercultural leaders and receive the support, resources, and platform to advance dialogue-driven initiatives, contribute to international policy conversations, and help build more inclusive and peaceful societies.
The programme forms part of UNESCO’s Road to Peace: Dialogue and Action for Tolerance and Intercultural Understanding initiative.
The Leadership Journey
Three interconnected phases combining leadership development, practical action, and global engagement.
PHASE 1 - Strengthen your leadership practice
An immersive learning journey designed to deepen participants’ capacity to lead across differences and mobilise dialogue as a catalyst for change.
Preparatory Training Programme
A structured series of interactive online workshops building the competencies intercultural leaders need to drive change in complex, diverse, and rapidly evolving environments. Topics may include:
Intercultural leadership in practice — leading across differences, building trust in diverse settings, and mobilising collective action through dialogue
Strategic communication and influence — framing narratives for impact, communicating across cultural and linguistic boundaries, and engaging stakeholders at multiple levels
Intercultural mediation and conflict transformation — facilitating dialogue in contested spaces, navigating disagreement constructively, and supporting reconciliation through intercultural approaches
Foresight, anticipation, and adaptive leadership — reading complex social and technological trends, anticipating change, and designing responses that are resilient and forward-looking
Technology as a tool for dialogue — exploring how digital platforms and AI can expand the reach of intercultural dialogue, support multilingual communication, and open new spaces for participation and collaboration
AI as a resource for intercultural leaders — using AI tools ethically and critically to design, communicate, and amplify leadership initiatives while centering inclusion and intercultural sensitivity
Designing dialogue-based initiatives for impact — developing theory of change, engaging communities, and building initiatives that generate measurable social outcomes
How to apply