Nominations for a new, international award are open to young New Zealanders. The AFS Global Citizen Prize for Young Leaders, will be granted to a person, aged 30 or under, in recognition of their commitment to improving our global community. This person will be leading a project which brings together diverse members of their community to tackle one or more of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. As well as receiving an incredible US$10,000 cash prize, the winner will get the unique opportunity to travel to Montreal in October to pitch their project to over 600 leaders in education, business and media at the AFS Global Conference. The winner will also receive international recognition, joining the ranks of past AFS Global Award winners such as Péter Halácsy, co-founder of Prezi, for his work at the Budapest School and Daniel Lubetzky, CEO and Founder of KIND Healthy Snacks, for his work with Empatico.

"The award's emphasis on young people's dedication to their global community is something which we at AFS want to celebrate and recognise because we are committed to providing people with the tools they need to develop into active global citizens,” says AFS New Zealand's National Director, Doris Cuthell.

The award was designed to promote intercultural competency, which is the ability for people to work effectively with others despite their different backgrounds. The award also comes at a time where New Zealanders, including young people, have responded so positively by coming together as a community in response to horrific terrorist attacks and when campaigning for the fight against climate change.

"Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and helping young people to develop their intercultural competency is now more important than ever. It is vital that people learn to accept each other's differences, and embrace them, to better work together to create a more peaceful and sustainable world" said Ms Cuthell.

The prize was made possible by a generous, anonymous, AFS Alumni donor. Nominations for the AFS Global Citizen Prize for Young Leaders are open until the 31 May 2019. Find out more at https://afs.org/prize/.

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