Latin American and Caribbean Youth Leadership Summit

 The Latin America and Caribbean Youth Leadership Summit was held in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, from 12 - 16 May 2005. This was the third regional summit of the United Nations’ series of youth leadership summits, co-organized by the UN New York Office of Sports for Development and Peace and the Global Peace Initiative of Women.

  The Summit brought together young people between the ages of 18 and 30 from 21 countries across the region. There were also international participants from the United States, Africa and Asia. Shumei International sent a delegation to the Summit including Mr. Tamao Koyama, Shumei Youth Department, Mr. Mamoru Motoya, Shumei NY Office Intern, and Mr. Yasu Hirakawa, Shumei Sao Paulo Center.

  As international participants, they participated in the plenary on ‘Spiritual Reflections: Building a culture of non-violence and respect’ and working sessions on Education and Environmental Sustainability. An example of proposal from a working session came from the Environmental Sustainability Group. They proposed a jointly organized Global Youth Environmental Summit on Reforestation in Spring 2006. They hope to attract young environmentalists, scientists, activists and educators from all regions of the world to explore projects to counter the dangers of deforestation and discuss ‘global reforestation’.

Mamoru and Yasu in Education Workshop	Tamao in Spiritual Reflections: Building a culture of Non-violence and Respect	The field visit to the Ecological Park in Belo Horizonte