The Council

The Council shall consist of three representatives from each member Movement and Associate of the World Alliance, and such other Associations or Movements as may be invited and admitted by the Council, namely the President, one Youth representative, and the National General Secretary. In case any of these representatives is not available, the corresponding National body shall appoint a substitute. Each member Movement will have equal votes. (Youth means a person between the age range of 18-30 years at the time of appointment). The Officers and Board Members of APAY are Members of the Council with the right to vote.

Former Presidents of APAY, Officers and Members of the Executive Committee of the World Alliance from Asia and Pacific and the Secretary General of the World Alliance or his authorized representative are Ex-Officio members of the Council.

The Executive Committee

The Executive Committee consists of the elected Officers of The Alliance and ONE from each of the member National Movements. The Asian members of the World Alliance Executive Committee, Secretary General of the World Alliance, and former Presidents of The Alliance are Ex-Officio members of the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee meets annually and carries out the general policy and specific instructions of the Council.

The Board Members

The Board of the Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs shall be a President, four Vice-Presidents each representing a sub region, a Treasurer and two Members, of whom one must be a woman, and the other must be a youth under the age of 30 years at the time of election. All the Board Members shall be elected by the members of the Council. The Board Members shall serve for a term of four years and not eligible for re-election for the same office. The election shall be held in accordance with the By-laws.

The Standing Committees

The Alliance forms Committees for specific tasks. These Committees are accountable to the Executive Committee. The present Standing Committees are:

The Staff

The Alliance has a staff team operating from the Alliance Office located in Hong Kong. The staff execute the decisions of the Executive Committee. The present staff consists of the General Secretary, two Executive Secretaries for Programmes, Coordinator of ICF, Program Officer of ICF, an Accountant, one Secretarial staff and a Support staff. The General Secretary is the Chief Executive of the Alliance.

APAY Staffs Retreat: Time for Reflection and Renewal

The Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs (APAY) staff went for a two-day retreat on September 23-24, 2021, at Bethany Retreat Center in Cheung Chau Island, Hong Kong. The retreat was an effort to create a safe space designed to reflect and share staff’s well-being amidst the current pandemic. Perhaps this is the first time APAY held a staff retreat!

The main sharing and reflecting session were based on an exercise/ activity, “Who Am I/How Am I Doing?”. A set of questions were prepared to facilitate the process. The exercise inspired each other to share, especially how every one of us is doing, our challenges, and problems but also, we had an opportunity to hear of what we did to cope in these times. The other exercise was to recall our favourite song to sing and listen to and share why that particular song is significant for each of us. As music is effective for everyone, it allows us to connect easily. We enjoyed the activity and were able to get to know each other better after listening to each sharing.

On the second day, a short debriefing session was done. All of us agreed to the idea that APAY should have an annual retreat to assess staff's well-being. A fellowship lunch followed before heading home.

The staff retreat was planned and facilitated by Ms Baidido Saganding, prog. Officer, ICF, Ms Annika Denkmann, BftW Second Personnel, Ms Sunita Suna, Executive Secretary APAY, Nam Boo Won, General Secretary APAY.

This was also a time to have fun-filled activities like Tai Chi, games, singing, hiking, swimming, potluck lunch, and of course, enjoy eating diverse cuisines.

Though the time was short, we hope the retreat has a positive impact on staff and helped renew our energy and spirit, as we staff strongly recommended holding the staff retreat every year! We look forward to the APAY Staff Retreat 2022!