The First Jiangsu – ASEAN Exchange Conference for Civil Organizations Seminar on Going Global by Civil Organizations Opened in Yangzhou
On September 20th, the first Jiangsu – ASEAN Exchange Conference for Civil Organizations Seminar on Going Global by Civil Organizations, organized by Jiangsu People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (JSPAFFC), with “Embrace Opportunities of the Era for Common Development” as its theme, opened in Yangzhou. 30 delegates from 11 civil friendship organizations from various ASEAN countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia, etc., as well as representatives from overseas friendship organizations including those from Japan, Germany and Argentina, in addition to representatives of Jiangsu NGO Network for International Exchanges and Cooperation, totalling over 80 delegates attended the conference. JSPAFFC Vice-Chairman Qian Wenhua, Secretary General of the ASEAN-China Centre Shi Zhongjun, Chairman of the Standing Committee of Yangzhou Municipal People’s Congress and President of the Yangzhou People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries Kong Lingjin, Government Officer at Ministry of Education and Culture of Indonesia Yudil Chatim and Deputy Secretary-General of the Malaysia – China Friendship Association Huang Zhenlong attended and addressed the conference.
Invited guests General Secretary of The Amity Foundation Ling Chunxiang, Associate General Secretary of The Amity Foundation She Hongyu, Vice Chairman of the Board of Amity Foundation’s overseas partner Indonesia’s YAKKUM Peni Rahaju, Director of Public Health and Humanity Development of YAKKUM Emergency Unit Arshinta Soemarsono and General Secretary of Cambodia’s Life With Dignity (LWD) Thay Bone also participated in the conference.

At the conference, General Secretary of The Amity Foundation Ling Chunxiang and Chairperson Thay Bone signed a memorandum of Understanding regarding a Solar Energy Programme in Schools in Pusat Province, Cambodia.

During the conference, whose theme is public charity, Associate General Secretary of The Amity Foundation She Hongyu, , Director of Public Health and Humanity Development of YAKKUM Emergency Unit Arshinta Soemarsono and General Secretary Cambodia’s Life With Dignity Thay Bone started the discussion with the opportunities and challenges faced by ASEAN countries such as Indonesia and Cambodia in terms of public charity and human life improvement. Amity Foundation and ASEAN partners led a seminar on joining forces to deal with hygiene, clean drinking water and challenges brought by climate change. All parties expressed the desire for future cooperation.

At the Seminar on Going Global by Civil Organizations, General Secretary of The Amity Foundation Ling Chunxiang introduced the international development work carried out by the Amity Foundation, and emphasized sharing how Amity takes “Going Global” as an important strategy, how to forge, one step at a time, a path of practical experiences that “internationalize the organization, globalize the projects”, as well as proposing suggestions on how social organizations can “go global” in better ways.

One of the Amity Foundation’s partners, Dean of Mission Academy at the University of Hamburg, Brighton Katabaro, made a keynote speech at the seminar, using the water shortage problem in his native country Tanzania as an entry point to share the various times his organization had cooperated with The Amity Foundation.
He encouraged more Chinese social organizations to reach out and join up with international societies and together improve the lives of African peoples from various countries including Tanzania.
