Australia YCW/YCS: Annual National Action Conference in Adelaide, July 2023

Between 6 - 9 July, members of the Young Christian Workers (YCW) and Young Christian Students (YCS) gathered together at The Monastery in Adelaide for the annual action conference. Members, workers and mentors from the YCW in Perth, Adelaide, Pt Augusta, Melbourne and Parramatta Dioceses were joined by their YCS counterparts from Parramatta and Adelaide. Together, they reflected on the realities of young people today, discerned in the light of Gospel values and those of the different faiths represented and committed to new actions in the spirit of the founder Fr. Joseph Cardijn's see, judge, act method.

News from the Asia & Pacific YCW: “We believe we are the solution”

Last October the Asia & Pacific YCW (ASPAC) held a continental action meeting, a seminar on social protection and a regional leaders’ exchange in the Philippines. The Continental Action Meeting was held in Taytay, in Rizal province. Twenty-eight participants from the YCW national movements of Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan and the Philippines attended the meeting, and the ASPAC team, the IYCW secretary-general and a PANAF coordinator were also present.

ASPAC had chosen a challenging theme for the Continental Action Meeting: “We Are Young! We Are Workers! Fighting for Dignity.” Participants came together to share their experiences and concerns, difficulties and convictions about the YCW in their respective countries. “We are young people who want to contribute and participate in the society. We are often excluded and not respected. We want to find a way to live a dignified life in this society. Yes, we believe that we are the solution and we can make difference!”

ASPAC Message: : "Young Workers Demand a Decent Living Income"

 aspaccampaign“In the world today, there is a wide gap between the decent life everyone is supposed to be entitled to and the difficulty we have to meet our most basic needs,” said the YCW Asia Pacific (ASPAC) team in a statement it has recently published.

The ASPAC YCW mentions appalling statistics from international institutions. For instance, according to the World Bank, around 50% of the world population lives with less than US$2.50 a day while in Asia alone, even in the least industrialized countries, you need at least USD15 to 20 per day to meet basic needs. Around the world, 22,000 children die each day due to poverty. The ILO reported that about 5.1 billion people (75% of the world population) are not covered by adequate social security, while according to UN-Habitat, 2.6 billion people do not have access to adequate sanitation and 884 million people lack access to adequate sources of drinking water.

The Reality of Young Workers in Asia

The statement includes some testimonies from young workers in Asian countries.

“I am working in a construction field and I am a daily wage worker. I am 20 years old, yet I am the one responsible to take care of my family. I have 3 younger brothers and sisters whom I am supporting for their education and family food expenses. I receive a salary of PhP250/day (US$ 5). With this salary, we can’t even afford to have a good meal three times a day. There are days that we eat rice with magic syrup (artificial cooking powder), adding water in it.” - Jomarie Navarro, Philippines

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