News and Topics

2024.12.16

On November 30th, 2024, a special symposium was held at the Nishinomiya Uegahara Campus Library Hall to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Youth Volunteers (UNYV) programme. 55 people attended in person, with another 65 who watched the event via Zoom, as well as 17 presenters and event staff. The UNYV programme, the first of its kind in Asia, is based on an agreement with the United Nations Volunteer (UNV) programme. It began when Kwansei Gakuin University started dispatching students to developing countries in 2004 as “United Nations Student Volunteers,” and then underwent a name change in 2013, becoming the “United Nations Youth Volunteers.” Participants spend approximately five months volunteering at UN agencies—mainly located in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Pacific—with approximately 200 students dispatched overseas over the past 20 years. As of 2024, Kwansei Gakuin University operates as the core school for the UNYV programme, in cooperation with three universities in Japan: Meiji University, Meiji Gakuin University, and Rikkyo University.

The symposium kicked off with introductory remarks by Professor Shizuka Narita, Vice President for International Affairs at Kwansei Gakuin University, Toily Kurbanov, UNV Executive Coordinator, and Hideko Hadzialic, Director at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Representation Office in Tokyo. After their comments, Professor Shun-ichi Murata, Director of the KGU Youth Volunteer Japan Training Center for the UNYV Programme, was joined by Asako Sakurai, UNV Partnership Development Specialist, and the pair took the stage to look back on the path of UNYV over the past 20 years. At the ensuing panel discussion moderated by Akiko Takai, Specially Appointed Associate Professor, Center for Global Human Resource Development, Rikkyo University, students who are currently serving abroad as UNYV joined an online call to share information about their overseas activities and engage in dialogue about the roles that they can play specifically because they are UNYV student participants.

After the call ended, former UNYV participants who are now active on the international stage came together for a second panel discussion, moderated by Professor Takeshi Sekiya, Deputy Director of the KGU Youth Volunteer Japan Training Center for the UNYV Programme, where they spoke at length about the connection between their time as UNYV and their careers, among other topics. Professor Murata brought the symposium to a close, before attendees moved to the Fujita Global Lounge on campus for a networking event. The event, attended by 33 participants, served as a valuable opportunity for all involved to reflect on the significance of the UNYV Programme to date, as well as possibilities for the future.

A two-part recording of the symposium can be viewed on the Center for International Education and Cooperation YouTube page.

Part 1: Opening remarks / UNYV's 20-year journey / Panel discussion with current UNYV student participants
Part 2: Panel discussion with UNYV alumni / Closing remarks

(Japanese only)