Gabriela Ramos, assistant director-general for social and human sciences at UNESCO, announced a new youth leadership program on the sideline of the 2024 Imperial Springs International Forum in Madrid on Thursday.

The project, called the Youth for Peace: UNESCO Intercultural Leadership Programme, will officially start in January and is a partnership between UNESCO and Kingold Group, which is based in Guangzhou, Guangdong province and is one of the forum's supporting companies.

Since its inauguration in 2014, the previous editions of the forum have been held in Guangzhou and have welcomed more than 200 international dignitaries and 600 experts, scholars, and business leaders from China and overseas to discuss global governance issues, and to champion multilateralism.

Ramos commended the forum for its role in fostering dialogue and exchanges for the world, and said she hoped the program would bring young leaders from around the world to engage in discussions with experts, enhance people-to-people exchanges, and increase mutual learning among civilizations.

This year's forum was the first to have been held oversea jointly by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the Australia China Friendship and Exchange Association, the Guangdong provincial government, and the World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid.