On December 21, students gave a report on the One Young World Summit 2015 which they participated in Thailand. The One Young World Summit is an international meeting where youths from all areas of the globe get together to discuss important global issues. From Chuo University, Riku Tazaki (1st year Faculty of Policy Studies), Miharu Akagi (4th year Faculty of Law), and Hibiki Takeda (4th year Faculty of Policy Studies) joined the international event held in Thailand as members representing Japan.

Hibiki, who has a strong interest in peace building, commented in his presentation that “the One Young World Summit is joined by 1400 people from 190 countries including students and working members. This is an extremely special opportunity to meet and connect with people in the same age range from around the world.”

Riku knew about One Young World from high school. With a clear career goal to become a journalist, he actively networked with ambassadors from all the participating countries. Riku realized how there are many youths in the world who are taking action to solve global issues and challenges in their regions. He shared with the audience that taking action is the key, stressing that “this was a once in a lifetime experience that changed my views. I believe that the world can change with the power of the youths!”

For Miharu, she learned through participating in the Summit that “there is more bias in the Japanese media” than she thought. “Despite the fact that Japan is an advanced country in Asia, Japan has very little impact in this kind of international summit. Japanese people should aggressively participate in discussions more and feel comfortable to share their opinions loudly.” During discussions, Miharu felt a gap between what needed to be done and what was actually going on. She concluded that “a world without wars may not be possible, but I believe that there is change when people connect with each other and continue to take action.”

The next One Young World Summit will be held in Ottawa, Canada from September 28 to October 1, 2016. Applications will begin from May to June. For more information, visit the sites below.