Around 50 young graduates and undergraduates from the University of Belfast and the University of Ulster have been working with a similar number of 11- to 14-year-olds from Catholic, Protestant, Chinese and Indian communities under the Youth Empowerment Scheme (YES).
YES was set up by four students in 2001 to tackle sectarian divisions, following a spell in the US on a leadership programme in Washington DC.
Co-founder Ryan Moffett said: "There's been a lot of violence in south Belfast against the Chinese community. As we're young ourselves, we felt mentoring was a good way to reach young people. They can talk to us as friends and are empowered to become active citizens.
"We do anti-bullying and anti-racism workshops so that young people can see their similarities, and not the differences." www.youthempowermentscheme.org.
