Tozanso Hiroba Consensus

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Last Updated (Thursday, 04 February 2010 00:51)

Regional Youth Roundtable on Globalisation and Global Citizenship: Impacts on Youth in Society

Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs Regional Youth Roundtable:
“GLOBALISATION AND GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP”
7 th – 11 th July 2008, Tozanso , Japan
Tozanso Hiroba Consensus

Our Hiroba Experience

Twenty-nine youth from nine movements of the Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs gathered at Tozanso YMCA from 7 - 11 July 2008. We had gathered to deliberate the impacts of Globalisation and explore our social responsibilities as Global Citizens. In the Hiroba , a Japanese concept of a place where a circle of friends meet to freely exchange and share ideas; learn and celebrate, we collectively reflected on the realities and experiences in our local and wider communities. We reflected on our interaction with the environment and different local communities.

 

The Hiroba reflections were enhanced through open discussion. We were awakened to wider perspectives and impacts of the following key social concerns:

  1. Declining values, e.g. moral, cultural, social
  2. Education e.g. access to education; inappropriate, commercialized education for profit and not knowledge.
  3. Social responsibility, in respect of
    • Environment sustainability
    • Poverty within our community
    • Social Inclusion
    • Conflict, violence and peace
  4. Misuse and abuse of modern forms of communication in our globalised World.

We acknowledge that as socially responsible global citizens, we can act as a driving force for social transformation.

Our Hiroba Principles

  1. Reaffirm the core values of sharing, caring and social responsibility in our YMCA mission.
  2. Develop greater awareness and understanding of global citizenship and social responsibility.
  3. Empower youth to make value-based decisions through mentorship, positive role modeling.
  4. Provide accurate information and links to relevant agencies, e.g. in relation to health, sex education and life choices.
  5. Build partnerships and networks within YMCA and other organizations to develop responses to common issues.
  6. Foster social inclusion in the community.
  7. Provide a platform for freedom of expression, promoting mission-driven youth participation and leadership.
  8. Provide a safe space for the protection of those affected by conflict and violence in the community.
  9. Develop and share interactive resources on youth activities through multi-media, such as APAY YOUTHNET, YMCA You Tube, Facebook, etc.

Our Hiroba Commitment

We challenge the youth, the local and national YMCA to adopt these principles and to take action to address the issues of Globalization and Global Citizenship facing youth.