Global Citizens for Sustainable Development
Country: India
Mr. John Anugraha is an Education and Development Practitioner. John, as a youth leader and peace activist, was awarded during the UN International Year of Youth in 2010, the Honorary title of Millennium Development Ambassador with due recognition of his services towards achieving Millennium Development Goals and Youth Development by the Sri Lanka United Nations Friendship Organization.
John is an avid traveler and has been sowing the seeds of ‘global citizenship’ during his travel all across the globe. John is the Founder and Executive Director of Global Citizens for Sustainable Development (GCSD), a not-for-profit organization based in Bangalore, India which focuses on youth leadership and youth empowerment, peace and culture, environment and other social development issues. John also runs the Vedike Eco-Residential School and Global Citizens’ Learning Centre that focuses on education for migrant workers’ children and rural to urban migrant communities.
He is the Coordinator of the Asian Citizens Assembly and Founder of inter-generational forums such as China-India Forum, Japan-India Forum, Korea-India Forum and Sri-Lanka India Forum that are actively engaging and empowering young leaders to work towards peace and achieving sustainable development goals.
As the Asia-Pacific representative at the UN-Habitat Youth Advisory Board from 2008 – 2015, John was actively involved in youth mainstreaming and empowerment strategies, including drafting and lobbying governments to adopt Youth Resolutions. John has also played an important role in planning and implementation of the UN-HABITAT Urban Youth Fund.
John enjoys his work in social activism and cultural youth exchanges. He teaches children at VEDIKE Eco-residential School, facilitates thematic sessions on issues around leadership, rural and sustainable development for young people. He heads various short-term Study Abroad Programs in India for International universities and experiential learning programs for schools and colleges in Bangalore. He has facilitated programs for universities such as J.F.Oberlin (Japan) and University at Albany (USA) for more than seven years in India.