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Ground-breaking ceremony for the new headquarters of the Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs
Last Updated (Wednesday, 01 June 2022 13:01)
On 9th June 2022, at the Korean YMCA’s campsite in Jeju Island
A ground-breaking ceremony and thanksgiving worship will be organized by the National Council of YMCAs of Korea, the host YMCA of the new APAY headquarters along with APAY, on 9th June in the Jeju campsite of the NCY-Korea. Recently, the Jeju provincial government approved the construction of the APAY headquarters building in the campsite located in the middle of Halla Mountain.
Key leaders from the Korea YMCA – national YMCA board members, trustees, past presidents, local YMCA general secretaries, and leaders from ecumenical partners such as the NCC-Korea and YWCA will attend the ceremony. From APAY, the immediate past President Babu Markus Gomes is designated by President Chen Chin-Seng to represent APAY in the ceremony officially. Along with him, the Treasurer Rev. Shin Dae-Kyun, Chair of the Gender Equity Committee Dr. Hahn Meerha, Ms. Marshia Milli Gomes, member of the Gender Equity Committee (currently serving as the Chair of the Adhoc Task Group of Gender Justice Policy), and General Secretary Nam Boo Won will attend the ceremony. Immediate after the ground-breaking ceremony, the construction work picks up pace, targeting to be completed around the end of November or early December 2022.
APAY in solidarity with victims in Sri Lankan Crisis
Last Updated (Thursday, 26 May 2022 13:29)
16th 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.
Read more: APAY in solidarity with victims in Sri Lankan Crisis
9 hurdle Challenges on Writing as a Prophetic Act Towards Peacebuilding
Last Updated (Thursday, 26 May 2022 13:25)
From the 16th to the 20th of May, ICF held a Virtual Thematic Workshop on Basic Journalism: Writing as a Prophetic Act towards Peacebuilding. Sixteen participants from Bangladesh, the Philippines, Nepal, Timor-Leste and Indonesia registered for this one-week virtual workshop. Nine participants successfully finished the workshop by actively participating in the writing exercises. Before the workshop, ICF asked all participants to indicate a topic that interest them to work on during the workshop and submit a news item for the bi-monthly ICF Newsletter: The Peacebuilders.
On the first workshop day, Ronalyn “Len” Olea, president of the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines, introduced the participants to the importance of journalism in promoting justice and peace, and the purpose and elements of good journalism. In her presentation, she introduced 10 elements of journalism from Bill Kovach and Tom Rosentiel’s The Elements of Journalism. One element, for example, is journalism’s obligation to the truth. Another element is that it must serve as a monitor of power. By working in breakout rooms, the participants got the chance to take a deeper look into media ownership in their respective countries to identify, who has power over certain media outlets. She also asked the participants to search for a news item that does not conform with the introduced elements of journalism.
Read more: 9 hurdle Challenges on Writing as a Prophetic Act Towards Peacebuilding
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.
Read more: Yokohama YMCA - Special Prayer meeting for Myanmar (online)
APAY in solidarity with victims in Sri Lankan Crisis
Last Updated (Monday, 16 May 2022 16:43)
16th 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.
Read more: APAY in solidarity with victims in Sri Lankan Crisis
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