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| Global University - Unit 1 - Globalisation: Focus
on Asia |
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| NGO development and trade specialist Tomoko Sakuma discusses globalisation |
Seventy-two participants aged
eighteen to eighty are currently enrolled in Peace Boat's 40th cruise
Global University (GU) program. Through a series of interactive
seminars, workshops and specialist-led lectures, together with exposure
study tours in ports of call, global issues are brought to life
for the intrepid students. Rather than utilising textbooks and examinations,
GU students think critically about issues including the HIV/AIDS
epidemic, climate change and globalisation, as NGO staff and journalists
working in the field present a range of perspectives to them. Opportunities
to talk and listen to the people of concern in ports of call, made
possible by Peace Boat's diverse organisational partnerships, are
thought provoking and unique. Importantly, such grass-roots exposure
challenges students to follow-up their newly acquired education
upon return to Japan through community consciousness-raising activities.
The first of the four study units, 'Globalisation: focus on Asian
nations' took place as the ship sailed from Hong Kong to the Seychelles,
via Vietnam and Singapore. To set the scene, trade related globalisation
specialist, Tomoko Sakuma from the development and economics institute,
'People's Forum' provided an overview of the positive and negative
consequences of globalisation. Sakuma also discussed the role of
the World Trade Organization (WTO) and illustrated with examples
why it has become one of the most controversial and influential
rule-making bodies on the international stage. Many students joined
the study tour to the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone when Peace
Boat visited Hong Kong, to learn about the on-the-ground consequences
of China's accession to the WTO.
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| Independent journalist Kiyoshi Ishikawa appears as the GU guest lecturer |
Japan-based, freelance journalist Kiyoshi Ishikawa was the Unit 1 guest lecturer. He generously imparted his knowledge gained largely through direct contact with the local people and issues encountered during extensive travel around Asia. For example, Ishikawa highlighted the reality of Japanese ODA (official development assistance, or foreign aid) in recipient Asian countries. For most GU students and Japanese people, the idea of ODA or giving assistance to developing countries conjures up only positive images. However, the hidden reality is often that the Japanese government may be reaping more benefits that it provides through its conditional aid grants that serve the interests of Japanese corporations and the already empowered sectors of the recipient country, particularly to the neglect of the neediest people in society.
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| GU students Hiroki Kusaka (left) and Masayo Kano act as facilitators during seminars |
Twenty-seven year old GU student, Masayo Kano commented
that although she believes it is important for a rich country like
Japan to continue its vast ODA program, she now realises that greater
scrutiny by government, media, civil society and individuals of the
intended, vis a vis actual, distribution and beneficiaries of foreign
aid is crucial in order for poverty alleviation and sustainable development
to occur. Similarly, fellow student Hiroki Kusaka, stressed that Japanese
society needs to access more factual information about the impact
that its collective tax contributions have on the regional Asian community
and environment as a result of ineffectual and self-serving Japanese
ODA policy. Both students believed that their eyes have now been opened
to the concept of Japanese economic colonisation and the sense of
financial dependency that is created within recipient societies on
aid donors. This, in turn, has prompted the students to want to share
their newfound knowledge and spread a sense of common responsibility
by creating positive change through education, starting with the people
around them.
shikawa also lectured on the unusual topic of Japan's heavy dependency
on palm oil from neighbouring Asian nations. By detailing the broad
variety of products containing palm oil as a key ingredient that Japanese
people consume to excess, notably cup noodles, shampoo and shortening,
and underlining the consequential environmental impact being caused
to meet the growing demand, Ishikawa made the cogent link between
consumer habits in Japan and deforestation, soil erosion, hazardous
agro-chemicals and social problems such as health and labour rights
in regional countries. Without doubt, learning about the interconnectedness
of people that such international trade creates not only urged GU
students to re-evaluate their own patterns of consumption but also
better understand the impact of globalisation on a local level.
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| Peace Boat's
40th Voyage index |
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PEACE BOAT is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. |
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