Last Updated (Friday, 18 December 2015 14:06)

ASIA AND ALLIANCE OF YMCAs
4th Leaders’ Quadrennial Roundtable
3-6 December 2015, YMCA Chiangmai, Thailand

Quadrennial Program Plan 2015-2019

‘Call for Servant Leadership’

 

We, the 41 participants from 14 National Movements that gathered at the 4th Leaders’ Quadrennial Roundtable held in Chiangmai, Thailand, were reminded again of our YMCA identity as a Christian faith-based ecumenical, volunteer movement fostering participation of youth to respond to issues in the society. We also recognized that the call for servant leadership for this quadrennial is rooted from our history as a labor movement serving the most marginalized members of society in the 19th century.

Rev. Dr. Chang Yoon-Jae, in his keynote address underscored Justice, Peace and Life: An Ecumenical Trinity Agenda for YMCAs in Asia and Pacific. Here are some excerpts from his paper:

Asia is a continent where justice is denied, peace is under threat and life is constantly abused and destroyed. As the most populous continent, it has been the home for the largest number of the poor in the world, with more than a billion hungry people, for military dictatorships, for terrorism, for religious fundamentalism and militant religious ideologies, for threats to religious freedom, for gross violation of human rights and human abuse, for the abominable caste system, for rampant abuse of women and children and human trafficking, for striking contrasts between the rich and the poor, and for the continued exclusion of millions of people from access to basic health care, education and shelter.

The Kingdom of God means how this world would be ruled if God sits on the throne instead of the Roman Emperor. Jesus’s definition of the Kingdom of God was an alternative justice that was interested in what fell ‘outside’ the boundaries. It focuses on the people who are excluded from society. Jesus compares this noble Kingdom of God to a mustard plant, which is like a weed. The mustard plant is not a perennial tree, but merely an annual grass. The Kingdom of God that Jesus declared was a kingdom for people who were like weeds — without name, without power and without wealth. In particular, it was a kingdom of grace that was given to people who were called ‘sinners’ according to the Jewish purity code.

The Bible says that to know God is to act out justice, and to defend the rights of the poor and weak. Without pursuing justice, we cannot build peace, because peace is the fruit of justice. There is also a fundamental link between justice and life. The prophet Isaiah was certain that when justice is realized the people of the Lord will enjoy the blessing of long life. Furthermore, justice is the basic order of God’s creation. Creation is the expression of God’s justice and righteousness, wisdom and dynamism.

YMCA is a movement organization working to establish God's kingdom on earth, following Jesus' movement. It is, in other words, an association of sisters and brothers who in faith dare to break away from the current unjust, violent, and unsustainable civilization of self-destruction and to pronounce and establish a new order of God’s justice, peace, and life by living and practicing it in their grassroots communities.

 

 

Quadrennial Vision

Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs is a non-profit movement that seeks to empower the people, especially the youth, to be servant-leaders in our YMCAs and in our society to respond to the social realities and to transform their community through creative and innovative approaches.

 

Goals

The goals of APAY for this quadrennial (2015-2019) are:

• Youth empowerment
• Social Relevance
• Institutional Viability

Youth Empowerment

It was strongly recognized that youth empowerment is integral component for the life of the movement. The youth empowerment we seek for this quadrennial calls for the engagement of local, national and regional movements to enable youth and to give them authority to think, to say and to do youth-led actions by providing them with necessary resources and stewardship to accomplish the mission of the YMCA.

 

Social Relevance

It was emphasized that the social relevancy of YMCA programs are an important component of movement strengthening; for if the programs of the YMCA are seen as relevant to meeting the needs of society, they will attract the participation of members of the community, especially its youth, and thus expand the membership of the YMCA and its significance in society.

It was decided at the LQR that the following APAY programs are important to addressing important issues in the region:

• Global Alternative Tourism Network (GATN)
• Climate change e-learning curriculum
• Green teams
• Gender mainstreaming
• Global Citizenship Institute (GCI)
• Interfaith Cooperation Forum (ICF)
• Natural disaster response
• Social entrepreneurship and social enterprises

In general, several strategies were identified to increase the effectiveness of these programs and to enhance the participation of APAY’s member movements: (1) better communication of the content of these programs from the regional to the national to the local level and (2) an exchange facilitated by APAY between YMCAs successfully implementing these programs and YMCAs wishing to initiate them.

 

Institutional Viability- is a demonstration of good governance through accountability, transparency, and integrity; partnership support through sharing of ideas, programs and resources with like-minded organizations; sustainability through possession of resources and clear mission, demonstrating strong financial disciplines and good operational practices that are socially responsive; and recognized image and impact.

 

Emerging Issues

The following issues that were identified in this LQR in which APAY and its member National Movements should consider addressing during the next four years include:

• Disaster response
• Ageing society
• Participation of women in YMCAs
• Modern-day slavery
• Health
• Human trafficking
• Unemployment
• Migrant workers
• Refugees
• Climate change
• Obesity
• Peaceful reunification
• Peace dialogue among youth from different countries
• Nuclear power stations
• Child care

 

Strategies

The strategies and success indicators formulated for each of the goals and sub-goals serve as key guide points that would lead us towards a strengthened and sustained movement. (Refer to attached table)

 

Conclusion

We are called to be catalysts towards achieving an alternative society that is founded on peace based on justice. Thus, we reaffirm our commitment to accomplish the vison and goals set forth in this quadrennial for a strengthened movement.

 

Table: Goals, Strategies and Success Indicator

Goals/Sub-goals	Strategies	Success Indicators
Youth Empowerment
1.1 Initiate servant-leadership education and continue youth exposure on social issues in the communities	Establish a team to design/develop the SL education framework/curriculum Integrate SL  Education to existing programmes in Regional-National-Local (RNL) levels Provide regional youth with “servant-leadership” education or training Mentorship training to the staff Addressing social issues in the communities  through GCI and other existing programmes	Develop “servant-leadership” framework/curriculum       At least 2 persons from each national movements join At least 2 persons from each national movements join
1.2 Create spaces  to engaged in dialogue, planning and program/activity implementation	Strengthen  and encourage all national movements to send youth delegate(s) to APAY YPLD committee as committee members or observers Encourage YMCA staffs to be included in YPLD committee as members or observers	100% of representation from national movements Balanced (at most one volunteer and one staff, or one volunteer or one staff from each movement ) representation
1.3. Attract and sustain the youth participation and leadership;	Maximize creative means such as utilization of social media and technology Enrich the contents of social media and platforms of engagement	Increase the reach of SNS (e.g. Facebook ) by 10%
1.4 Support the WAY Youth Empowerment thrust	incorporate  four pillar strategies (Health, Civic engagement, Environment, Employment) into our existing programmes

Social Relevance

Programs	Strategies
GATN	Expand the number of GATN sites
	Increase publicity about the program
	Better preparation of participants by the sending countries
	Enhance interaction between sending and receiving countries
	Tell the story of the social impact of this program (how is the local economy impacted, for instance
Climate change e-learning	Translate materials into non-digital format for people without access to the internet and/or for non-youth
	Host web site for national movements to upload their materials related to climate change
	Do not limit e-learning to climate change
Green teams	Produce training manual as a resource for participants when they return home after workshops and for others
	Expand tree-planting programs
	Focus on children as a target group
Gender mainstreaming	Encourage all national and local YMCA movements to have a gender committee
	Continue to promote the leadership of women in the YMCA
	Initiate programs that respond to women’s issues in the region
GCI	Follow up with the GCI alumni as a way to ensure that the knowledge and skills learned are being utilized by the national and local YMCAs
	Create a network of GCI alumni
	Form national forums of GCI alumni to plan activities at the national level
ICF	Appoint YMCA contact people who are active in justpeace issues to link with ICF national forums in select countries
	Conduct mini-School of Peace (SOP) programs at the national level
	Provide more information about this program to the national movements
Natural disaster response	Establish a disaster response desk
	Develop disaster response policies and guidelines
	Organize training of trainers workshops on disaster response
Social entrepreneurship and social enterprises	Provide training workshops on how to establish and manage a social enterprise
	Target youth as the staff and beneficiaries
	Create a web site listing the social enterprises that offers a platform for investors to support specific social enterprises

Institutional Viability

Goal/Sub Goals	Strategies	Success Indicators
Good Governance
Increased knowledge	Develop & implementation of Training Package Face to face Training/ Online training module	All NMs are trained
Standards	Governance Standard Package	Developed  Standard Package
Compliance	Develop & implement Reporting & Auditing Structure	Annual Self Audit Continuous Improvement Framework
Partnership Support
Develop Internal Partnership	Resources Sharing Networking and supporting	Increased programs Increased impact Increased income Annual Reporting on impacts
Develop External Partnership	Resources Sharing Networking and supporting Co-working with like other organizations	Increased programs Increased impact Increased income Better relationship with partners Annual Reporting on impacts
Sustainability
Mission Focused	Review of Mission Statement  Mission Oriented Programs Educate Stakeholders on our Mission	Mission  Statement reviewed   Well informed Stakeholders
Financial viability	Annual Financial Reports     Successful Resource Mobilization	Audited Financial Reports Reviewed Strong equity base
Adequate Resources	Human Resource Management	Recruitment and Induction and ongoing staff
	Sufficient  infrastructure	development Suitable facilities & infrastructure
Socially Responsive	Effective & Relevant Community Based Programs Responsive Community Needs Diverse and Inclusive principles	Social impact monitoring
Recognized Branding
Publicly Recognized	Marketing and Promotion	Increasing donors, fund raising, programs/ contracts acquisition and participation
Monitor Impact	Conduct Branding Surveys	Benchmarking Survey outcomes.
Crisis Management	Develop Crisis Management Policy at all levels.	Crisis Management Policy adopted and implemented.
Social Media Management	Develop Social Media Policy at all levels. Implement Social Media Training	Social Media Policy adopted and implemented.

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