Yokohama YMCA - Special Prayer meeting for Myanmar (online)

Last Updated (Thursday, 26 May 2022 13:16)

A special prayer meeting for Myanmar was held on Saturday, May 7, 2022, hosted by the Yokohama YMCA International Committee. Thirty-five (35) participants from Japan and overseas participated in the online meeting.

Since the military coup d'etat in February 2021, the lives of Myanmar people have been threatened. We at Yokohama YMCA have been volunteering in villages with poor medical services and disaster-affected areas since1992 with YMCAs in Myanmar. We had a prayer time to express our solidarity with the people of Myanmar in their difficult situation.

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APAY in solidarity with victims in Sri Lankan Crisis

Last Updated (Monday, 16 May 2022 16:43)

16^th May 2022

The crisis in Sri Lanka, which has seen protests that were mostly peaceful on the streets of Colombo for over a month, has now descended into deadly violence after Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa announced his resignation. The defense ministry has ordered troops to shoot on sight after it granted its military and police emergency powers to arrest people without warrants after government and public properties were burned and eight people died in the violence. There is now a serious risk of militarization and the weakening of institutional checks and balances in Sri Lanka. It is impossible to monitor if human rights are not abused in a situation where there is a state of emergency, curfew and social media blackout.

The problem:
Years of corruption and mismanagement by the government controlled by the Rajapakse family has contributed to the country’s worst economic crisis since the country gained independence in 1948. Unsustainable financial policies and economic programs eroded the foreign exchange reserves and left the country unable to service its debts and pay for import of fuel, medicine and other essential goods.

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ICF organized a virtual Training of Trainers on Nonviolent Communication

Last Updated (Tuesday, 03 May 2022 16:29)

From March 7th to 30th, 2022, the Interfaith Cooperation Forum conducted a ten-day Peace Institute of virtual Training of Trainers (ToT) on Nonviolent Communication. Twelve participants attended the training. Six (6) of them were male and 6 were females from six Asian countries, namely, Bangladesh, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Nepal, and Timor-Leste. The training-of-trainers sessions were held for three hours on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday every week. Tuesdays and Thursdays were set aside to work on assigned tasks to participants for practical learning. ICF expects the certificate holders of the ICF Peace Institute to contribute as facilitators in some ICF activities, as well as in activities in their local or national contexts beyond ICF. ICF reached out to a diverse group of young people who wanted to contribute to promoting peace through learning and practicing nonviolent communication.

The whole Training of Trainers went through different learning session outlines and practicum for the participants. The session outline was about the introduction of Nonviolent Communication, The NVC model, principles of NVC, four important key elements of NVC (Observation, Feeling, Need, and Request), Empathy, and NVC languages (Jackal and Giraffe language). The participants were expected to read two textbooks as required reading. Using Google classroom, they interacted with the facilitators, fellow trainees or “classmates,” and hosts. Through this platform, they submitted their written assignments and other documents, both for individual and group assignments. For a simulated practicum for group facilitation, the participants teamed up into three groups and prepared the module to be used for facilitation. They also wrote their everyday journal for reflections.

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Last Updated (Wednesday, 02 March 2022 16:33)

East Asia Youth International Peace Forum
Daegu YMCA, Korea
28 February 2022; 2-4PM Korea Time

Daegu YMCA of Korea under its Peaceful Daegu Project organized the East Asia International Peace Forum on 28 February 2022 at 2-4 PM Korea time. The event which was participated mostly by YMCA of Korea Secretaries and staff was likewise opened to YMCA constituents in the region through virtual platform. The gathering highlighted the importance of establishing a youth network for peace in East Asia.

The forum discussion centered on the relevance understanding the historical value of Daegu March 1st Independence Movement and the plight of the Daegu YMCA movement under Japanese colonial rule. Prof Son San-mun of the Yeungnam University and NCY Korea NGS Kim Kyungmin presented the main discussion papers from which both articles highlighted the series of events that led to the Daegu March 1 Movement, and the Daegu YMCA movement. Likewise, it presented the key persons who inspired others to join the movement. It was worthy to note that the individuals and groups of people involved have their roots connected with the YMCA of Daegu. Most of which are youth and students.

Read more: East Asia Youth International Peace Forum Daegu YMCA, Korea