Young leaders on world stage

Young leaders on world stage

A diverse group of New Zealand youth have been selected to form the national delegation on the 28th Ship for World Youth programme.

The annual programme is organised and funded by the Cabinet Office of the Japanese government and brings more than 200 young leaders from 11 countries together for several weeks on board the Nippon Maru next January and February.

The aims of the programme include fostering the spirit of international cooperation and the competence to practice it, while developing leadership capabilities of participating youth in various areas of international society.

It also includes six streams of professional development courses including Education, Community Development and Disaster Risk Reduction.

All the participating youth will spend two weeks in Japan, experiencing the local environment, including homestaying with Japanese host families.

The 11 New Zealand delegates hail from Auckland, Hamilton, Gisborne, Levin, Otaki, Wellington and Christchurch. Equally diverse professionally, they include university students, doctors, social workers and project managers in NGOs and local government.

One of the Assistant National Leaders of the delegation Garreth Stevens, a Community Development Advisor with Horowhenua District Council, says the team believes that the group is an accurate representation of a country that an increasingly diverse range of people call home.

“This journey is one of cultural exchange, and I’m really proud to be part of a group that has so much rich culture to share. I think that's just the Kiwi way - New Zealand is a truly multicultural society and we are all keen to get stuck into this programme” Mr Stevens said.

“All the delegates have an interest in making sure that young Kiwis are represented in decision making and have their voices heard locally. We are all really looking forward to learning about other cultures and meeting the delegates from the other countries. This will quite literally gloablise our understanding of complex issues, and give us a much better perspective on our local goals and aspirations”

The New Zealand delegation leaves for Japan on January 14 to join others from Australia, Bahrain, Chile, India, Mexico, Russia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, and Japan. Each country has 11 delegates, with the exception of Japan which has 120.

Mr Stevens said the New Zealand team hopes to bring back what they have learned and apply to it initiatives that they are working on in their own communities.

The programme has an established pedigree of participants in its 28 years, such as three-term New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark.

ENDS

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