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- It was good to hear the experiences and ideas of everyone from elementary school students to people working in international cooperation, all at once. (Government agency)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- I wish I could have taken part in opportunities like this when I was a child. As the high school student said, I decided to think about peace from now on as my own issue. I felt it is something the young generation who will create the future and the adult generation should all work on together. (Government agency)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- It was wonderful that the young generation ran the event, including the emcee. I felt their initiative and motivation to take things seriously. I saw real meaning in having a space where different generations talk as equals. (Private company)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
On the other hand, there were also comments such as “the date and time were restrictive, so it was hard to take part.” We want to make use of this feedback in running future events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, let me walk you through the session in order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Children](\"https:\/\/forum2050.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/kkw2024_02.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nMembers from elementary to high school each freely shared their thoughts in their own words<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
First, Matsuyama and Azegami of JICA gave a joint keynote address. Both have long been in charge of practical work in education cooperation and development education, and they spoke passionately about the challenges on the ground and the efforts to overcome them. Next, Maeda, who works on the City of Yokohama’s international exchange projects, spoke about developments and challenges in international cooperation from the perspective of a local government. Both talks offered persuasive perspectives grounded in practical experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our Vice President joining online from Bangladesh, sharing comments and playing messages from local university students<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Next, our organization’s Vice President, who is in Bangladesh, talked about the leadership of young people there and their power to move the country. In Bangladesh, young people are now at the center of a historic transformation. When we played an interview video in the venue that captured their real voices, its content on how the students themselves would act on problems made complex by historical background was very weighty and profound, and the participants throughout the venue watched with serious expressions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Speakers](\"https:\/\/forum2050.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/kkw2024_01.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Respecting](\"https:\/\/forum2050.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/kkw2024_03.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nRespecting the wishes of our under-18 members and talking seriously, eye to eye as equals<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Next, offering the perspective of the next generation, our youngest member Kanji (5th grade), Akari (12th grade), who studied in Rwanda, and Maaya (10th grade), the emcee, each freely spoke about their thoughts on a peaceful future. They shared messages such as “start by learning about it as your own issue” and “I want to strengthen the foundations of the peace we have now,” and the adults in the venue nodded deeply. This was followed by a panel discussion among the speakers and a Q&A with participants in the venue and online, and finally our auditor, Ueshima, closed the event with a wrap-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"After](\"https:\/\/forum2050.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/kkw2024_05.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/forum2050.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/kkw2024_06.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThrough this event, we were reminded that international understanding is extremely important for creating a peaceful future together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In particular, I feel that giving the children who will lead the next generation opportunities to understand different cultures and values and to think together will be a major foundation for building a peaceful society in the future. I also want to keep planning and running events where people notice that there is so much peace and happiness in the things we take for granted now, and where smiles spread from one person to the next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keiko Itaya<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[Upcoming Events]<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tue, Oct 8, 2024: Talk for teachers, Seto City, Aichi Prefecture<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wed, Oct 9, 2024: Talk and dialogue for all students at Wako City Daini (No. 2) Junior High School, Saitama Prefecture<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thu, Oct 10, 2024: Outreach lecture at Higashi Junior High School, Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sat, Dec 14, 2024: Talk and dialogue in the “RED” program at Musashi High School and Junior High School<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[Event Results]<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Forum2050 session at Education Cooperation Week 2024<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
“Education Cooperation Week 2024” was held from Monday, September 2 to Friday, September 13, 2024.
Date and time: Friday, September 6, 17:00-18:30, “Forum2050: A Future Co-Created by Connected Children in Japan and Around the World”
Venue: Hybrid format, in person at Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Headquarters and online
We plan to share how the day went on our website and elsewhere, so please look forward to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n[From Vice President Akihiro Shoji]<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I’m Shoji, one of our organization’s two Vice Presidents. At Forum2050 I am in charge of planning, promoting and coordinating our projects. Thank you very much for your continued understanding and support for Forum2050’s philosophy and activities. I am currently posted in Bangladesh in South Asia for my main job in international cooperation and development. The country has a population of about 170 million and an average age of 28, and it has been only 53 years since independence; it is an emerging country full of youth and energy, with high expectations for what lies ahead. My postings there now add up to about 14 years. Walking alongside the country, and in addition to my main job, I try to put into practice our organization’s motto, “Each child’s hopes for the future create the future of humanity,” by engaging with the country’s children and helping children around the world connect with one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, this emerging country, Bangladesh, recently went through a major political upheaval: the collapse of the government, triggered by a student movement. In this article, I will describe how the country’s young people rose up and brought down what had been an authoritarian government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Photo:](\"https:\/\/forum2050.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/kkw2024_07.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nIt began as a movement to reform the civil service hiring preference for the families of soldiers who fought in the War of Independence in 1971 to win independence from Pakistan, which had originally been the same country (a system reserving 30% of civil service hires for War of Independence soldiers and their families). More than 50 years after the country’s founding, hiring preferences for those who shed blood in the war and their relatives had become a vested interest, and in 2018 the system was abolished once, following large-scale protests by students at that time. However, in June this year, the court decided to reinstate the system. In the country, the same party (the Awami League) had wielded power autocratically since 2008, and the same prime minister had held that position with overwhelming power for more than 15 years. So even though it was a court decision, almost no one in the country believed in the independence of the judiciary (many people likewise do not trust the press or the police either), and they were convinced that the ruling party had once again arbitrarily reinstated the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That was because the judiciary being bent by politics was all too common in daily life. People were also fed up with politicians and other powerful figures who, in the name of hiring the relatives of War of Independence soldiers, took bribes to have people pose as soldiers’ relatives and get hired as civil servants, and with bribes being involved in the very process of certifying soldiers’ relatives. So, from July, young people, mainly university students, rose up again and began demonstrating loudly for fair and just civil service hiring, demanding that, even if the quota was not abolished, it at least be reduced to around 5%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From the website “Wikipedia,” “2024 Bangladesh quota reform movement<\/a> (as of August 27, 2024)”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Photo:](\"https:\/\/forum2050.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/kkw2024_08.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Photo:](\"https:\/\/forum2050.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/kkw2024_09.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThese voices spread not only through the University of Dhaka, the country’s top university, but to many other universities, and the number of students joining the demonstrations grew from thousands to tens of thousands, and then to hundreds of thousands. The then prime minister responded mockingly, “Are you saying we should hire the relatives of ‘traitors’ (who sided with Pakistan at the time of independence) instead of the relatives of War of Independence soldiers?” and the ruling party’s general secretary threatened to take forceful measures if the protests continued. Then, from around July 16, the ruling party’s notorious extremist supporters (the party’s youth groups) actually began violently attacking student movement groups across the country. Scenes of students fighting back with wooden sticks and stones occurred all over the country and were reported; students, their supporters and ruling party supporters poured out across the country to back each side; the security authorities tried to suppress the clashes by force, and anti-government groups also flowed in, so that things quickly became radicalized, with government offices set on fire and attacks on prisons and jailbreaks. By July 18 the situation across the country had become almost impossible to bring under control. The government imposed a nationwide “total shutdown” of the internet, citing as a technical reason an attack on a government facility, and a curfew was imposed nationwide from midnight on July 19. The chaos reached its peak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Photo:](\"https:\/\/forum2050.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/kkw2024_10.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
- It was wonderful that the young generation ran the event, including the emcee. I felt their initiative and motivation to take things seriously. I saw real meaning in having a space where different generations talk as equals. (Private company)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- I wish I could have taken part in opportunities like this when I was a child. As the high school student said, I decided to think about peace from now on as my own issue. I felt it is something the young generation who will create the future and the adult generation should all work on together. (Government agency)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"Photo:](\"https:\/\/forum2050.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/kkw2024_09-1.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n