At the invitation of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) of Japan, a six-member delegation from the leadership of YWCA in China visited Japan from August 26 to 30 to attend a seminar on social services.
In the two themed speeches, "Challenges and Responses of the China YWCA to an Aging Society" and "The Relationship Between the China YWCA and the Development of Women and Children's Affairs in China" at the seminar, China YWCA highlighted the insights and initiatives in social services covering spiritual care for the elderly, women's empowerment, children's education, and volunteer participation. The organization shared its experiences across different stages of China's social development, improving its discursive power and enhancing its international presence, said the YMCA&YWCA China.
In addition to attending the seminar, the delegation from the YMCAs of the National Council, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Hangzhou visited facilities of the YWCAs in Kyoto, Osaka, Yokohama, and Tokyo, including the multi-functional clubhouses, elderly service centers, employment training centers for the disabled, and nurseries.
The YWCA of Japan has been dedicated to promoting peace and opposed the Japanese government's initiatives to amend Article 9 of the Constitution for decades. Since 2004, the China-Japan-Korea YWCA has co-organized the "Pilgrimage to Hiroshima." Likewise, since 2007, the China-Japan YWCA has conducted the "Nanjing Peace Pilgrimage." These efforts in peace education aim to inspire young people to learn from history, prioritize peace, and focus on the future. Meanwhile, the China-Japan YWCA has collaborated on home-based elderly care training to enhance the professional development of elderly care services since 2007.
Both parties expressed their intention to expand the collaboration between the YWCAs of China and Japan through "exchanges and interactions." They agreed to cooperate in different fields, such as peace education, elderly care services, youth and cultural exchanges, and themed seminars. The two sides intend to carry out these initiatives through project-based, institutionalized, and sustainable cooperation mechanisms while also exploring the potential for city-level YWCA cooperation in both countries, using their national councils as a platform.
