The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is celebrating its Sixth International Day of Education today, Jan. 24. This year’s theme is, “Learning for Lasting Peace.” As UNESCO notes, “The world is seeing a surge in violent conflicts along with a rise in discrimination, racism, xenophobia, and hate speech.” An active commitment to peace has never been more urgent and education is central to this endeavor.

As the crossroads of the Pacific, Hawaii has a paramount role in these efforts. For nearly 70 years, the Pacific and Asian Affairs Council (PAAC) has worked toward this mission — promoting peace in our island community by engaging our young leaders in global issues, inspiring them to be global citizens, and connecting people across borders.

Helping Hawaii’s youth develop global competence is one of the ways PAAC works toward this goal. Global competence — the knowledge, skills and attitudes to be respectful humans with a shared sense of belonging to the global community — parallels UNESCO’s Global Citizenship Education Initiative. In addition to fostering respectful interactions, global competence prepares youth for the world of work and interconnected digital spaces. It shows them why they should care about and engage in global issues and has deep implications for both current and future generations.

Global competence is a lifelong process, but it starts with education. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, an intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, also recognizes the importance of global competence. In 2018, it created its Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) to assess the global competence of 15-year-old students and schools’ effectiveness at teaching it. The Asia Society also measures global competence.

Our organization is proud of our long-term efforts to help the youth of the Aloha State develop global competence. We serve approximately 2,000 high school students annually through our programs, including after-school clubs and classes, international travel and conferences.

PAAC is the only organization that brings together private, public, charter and home school students throughout the state to learn about and collaborate on global issues. Since our founding in 1954, we have served more than 100,000 high school students, 107,300 college students, 1,516 international visitors, and 85,400 community members.

The global competencies we teach are relevant on the local level, as well as on the international stage. Last fall, our high school global studies class included a unit on peace that inspired some amazing projects. For its Project Maluhia, the PAAC club at Aiea High School asked, “How can we have peace in the world if many people don’t have inner peace? To get inner peace, they must have necessities.” The students identified homelessness as a priority issue in the community, researched the needs of shelters, and compiled data about teen homelessness and students who receive free and reduced meals. They designed posters that they displayed on campus and held a donation drive from which they were able to create 10 “Bags of Peace” — each one filled with soap, clothing, paper, socks, snacks and more.

Of course, we are not the only organization that focuses on promoting peace and tolerance. Many others help to steward this cause and have supported our efforts, including the Matsunaga Institute for Peace at the University of Hawaii, the Shanti Alliance and Ceeds of Peace.

Yes, today’s world allows for increased openness, but as UNESCO noted, we also witnessing rising polarization. PAAC will continue doing its part to teach tomorrow’s leaders to become agents of peace in their communities.

Niki Shishido joined the Pacific and Asian Affairs Council in 2013 and has served as it executive director since 2016. To learn more about PAAC, see www.paachawaii.org.