Ship For World Youth New Zealand

The Ship for World Youth Leaders (SWY) is an outstanding annual leadership development programme operated by the Cabinet Office of Japan. Each year, Japan invites delegates from 10 countries join on a two week local programme in Japan, followed by a month long voyage on the Nippon Maru - an intensive environment where cross cultural understanding, community development and global citizenship transcend discussion. Without access to the outside world, participants take away a lived experience of cohesive society building, while boosting professional skills from short courses offered on topics such as Disaster Risk Reduction, Community Development, Education, Youth Empowerment, Project Management and Leadership. The Ship for World Youth New Zealand Alumni Association (SWYNZ) is a full member of SWYAA International - the official network of ex-participants of SWY. Alongside the coordination of, and participation in international post-programme activities, SWYNZ, is the organising body of Aotearoa's contributions to the annual programme, in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth Development and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The main focus of our work is enable the next generation of kiwis to participate in SWY, while supporting the Japanese Cabinet Office to deliver local programmes that include New Zealand as a port of call. The secondary focus of our work is to support ex-participants of the programme live by one of SWY's mantras - "Think Global, Act Local" - by fostering a well connected network and supporting member projects such as the OWD socks movement, fundraising / disaster relief efforts, and local homestay / cultural exchange programmes. Check out our website www.swynz.org.nz and follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/swynz for information about upcoming events for both prospective and ex-participants. Nga mihi aroha e manaaki nei i a matou e tau nei