YMCA chief stresses importance of global citizenship

By Kim Tae-jong

The new head of YMCA Korea said the country needs to pay greater attention to helping children from multicultural families smoothly grow into important members of society.

He emphasized the importance of developing various programs for them.

“We’re coming up with programs to help these children adjust to society. The underlying issue is to encourage Korean families to get along with them better without the sense of difference,”said Nam Boo-won, general secretary of the National Council of YMCAs of Korea.

Nam, who took office recently, said Korean youngsters need to develop a sense of global citizenship, adding his organization will help foster future global leaders.

“We’re living in a global village. We need to take care of our neighbors at a global level, and neighbors can mean not only people around us but those in other countries, and even our descendents in the future and animals that share the earth with us,”

Despite the important role of young people in the future, he was concerned that a lot of children have become marginalized in a time when severe competition is emphasized without providing them with proper care and help.

“We estimate a total of 1 million teenagers run away from home annually, and there are also an increasing number of underprivileged children who need proper protection and help,” he said.

He mentioned the renovation of the YMCA’s child care centers nationwide, as one of the important ongoing projects to rectify the situation.

Child care centers will provide those who seek help and a shelter with a better environment, he said.

Currently, about 50 percent of the renovations have been finished, and after the upgrade of “hardware,” Nam plans to develop better educational programs for those who visit the centers.

As the issue of increasing multicultural families shows, Nam believes society faces continuous change and new challenges, which gives NGOs such as the YMCA the chance to set new goals.

Working for an NGO for the past 27 years, Nam has witnessed civic groups emerging with different interests seen through varied spectrums and said they should now be looking to move forward.

“I’ve seen changes by our actions and young people grow into leaders of society in the past years, which is rewarding. Now it’s time to look at our roles and new responsibilities, setting a new goal to make our society a better place for our neighbors,” he said.