FORUM-ASIA is proud that Gianna Francesca Catolico, ASEAN Advocacy Fellow wins the Pyeongchang Equality Awards in Pyeongchang Youth Peace Challenge 2022.

The PyeongChang Youth Peace Challenge 2022 (YPC 2022) is a global citizenship education program to encourage future generations to participate in peace activities. It consists of an essay writing and group debate among young people between the ages of 14 and 27 proposing how to implement the proposals contained in the Pyeongchang Peace Forum Common Agenda report of the UN Secretary-General (Sept. 2021) from a peace perspective as a youth in your country and/or internationally.

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We interviewed Gianna on her journey during the competition and her hopes after being appointed as Pyeongchang Peace Ambassador.

Why did you join the competition?

I first learned about the Pyeongchang Peace Forum (PPF) while interning for the May 18 Memorial Foundation back in 2018. Meanwhile, I discovered PPF’s Youth Peace Challenge (YPC) when one of my Indonesian friends, Chikita Edrini Marpaung, won the Pyeongchang Youth SDGs Leadership Prize last year. I became fascinated with the initiative and submitted my essay before the deadline. I joined the YPC to expand my network and work with young patriots at the forefront of sustainable peacebuilding initiatives at the local, national, and global levels.

How was your experience during the selection process?

The name ‘Youth Peace Challenge’ was befitting because I found my experience challenging and somehow nerve-racking! I learned a lot from my colleagues who competed with me during the first debate —especially on the armed conflict issues in individual African states and the Brahimi report (formally the Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations). During the final debate, my knowledge on the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and the correlation of sports and peacebuilding was put to a test. Overall, I am overjoyed to be one of the winners of this prestigious competition.

What are your hopes after being appointed as an ambassador?

I look forward to co-organising human rights and peacebuilding events with my fellow winners for the next 12 months and amplifying the voices of marginalised young advocates in the Philippines. In the next months, I will immerse myself in several peacebuilding efforts, such as working with the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting in my barangay (village) for the upcoming national elections, build solidarity movements for the people of Ukraine, and calling on the international community to hold the Myanmar military junta accountable for their atrocities.

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Watch Gianna in action during the competition here:

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