I was privileged to be part of the New Zealand delegation to Japan to attend the recently held ‘Young Core Leaders of Civil Society Development Programme.’
Organised by the Cabinet Office of Japan and International Youth Exchange Centre and coordinated by our Social Development Ministry, the programme aimed to build a ‘cohesive society’ in which every person optimises his or her abilities and contributes to social and economic progress.
The programme discussed a number of issues including ‘Activities for Elderly People’ (Life of elderly people with motivation in living) and ‘Activities for Persons with Disabilities’ (Support for social participation of persons with disabilities).
I was selected to participate and speak at the latter.
Three important aspects of a cohesive society also formed the core of the Programme. They included (a) Participation of non-profit organisations in the policy-making process and public administration (b) Partnership among public administration and non-profit organisations (NGOs) in organising programmes and activities and (c) Information exchange among public administration and non-profit organisations.
I believe that fair information exchange among public administration and NGOs plays a vital role in determining the level of potential partnerships, in-turn empowering NGOs to participate in public administration.
Proper exchange of information bridges healthy relationship between communities and those in charge of public administration and helps to develop new partnerships.
Participation in a wide range of social activities which actively contribute to the progress of the international community is a pre-requisite to realise a cohesive society, where individuals with various attributes participate in society in an independent manner to support themselves and each other while making full use of their respective abilities.
The Outcome
All participants acknowledged that it was essential to build a framework to respond accordingly to the unmet needs in local communities and various fields. We shared the examples of collaboration with public administration and discussed what was required to promote corporation and establish an effective approach.
Vishal Rishi is the Programme Manager of The Asia Network Inc and a community worker based in Auckland. The above is an edited version of a Report that he filed following his recent visit to Japan to attend the Young Core Leaders of Civil Society Groups Development Programme. He is seen in the picture here with (from left) Anja Hubert (Germany), Fiona Woodcock (New Zealand), Louise Morell Holm (Denmark) and Hannah Prior (New Zealand).
