Jeffrey Boutwell's Testimony • Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra's Testimony • Legislation

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Testimony

by

Jeffrey H. Boutwell, Ph.D., Executive Director

Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs

to the

SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Senator Norman Sakamoto, Chair and Senator Jill N. Tokuda, Vice Chair

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

1:15 P.M.

Conference Room 225

In Consideration of

Senate Bill 1177

TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007

STATE OF HAWAII

I would like to express my thanks to committee chair, Sen. Sakamoto, the committee vice-chair, Sen. Tokuda, and the other members of the Senate Committee on Education for giving me this opportunity to testify in support of SB 1177 to appropriate funds for the establishment of a Hawai'i Global Youth Center.  I would also like to thank the East-West Center and its President, Charles Morrison, and its Chair of the Board of Governors, Roland Lagareta, for their support of the concept of the HGYC. 

I have been involved in the discussions and efforts in support of the Hawai'i Global Youth Center for more than a year now, in my role as both Executive Director of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs (an international scientific public policy organization created in 1957 which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995 for its efforts to reduce and eliminate nuclear weapons) and as the liaison between the Pugwash Conferences and the network of International Student/Young Pugwash , an independent organization of young people concerned with global issues that has representation in more than 30 countries around the world that looks forward to working closely with the Global Youth Center of Hawaii.

During my recent three-week stay in Hawai'i, in January 2007 as a Visiting Fellow at the East-West Center, I talked to a wide range of people, including youth, about the possibilities for a Global Youth Center, and believe more firmly than before that such a center presents a unique opportunity for generating an effective, international framework in which youth from Hawai'i and around the world can become actively engaged in discussing and influencing many of the global, transboundary challenges facing the international community today. 

In doing so, the challenge will be to develop a center that invites youth from Hawai'i and around the world to identify what they see as the major global issues to be addressed; to propose ways in which youth may play a more active role in dealing with these issues; to train young people as future leaders to more effectively communicate their concerns to, and interact with, current policymakers and opinion makers; and to provide ways in which young leaders can help shape the debate over issues that will directly affect them.  Indeed, as Governor Linda Lingle noted in her 2006 Inaugural Address, “our shared vision for the future is an assurance that….. young people…. will be a part of finding solutions to the challenges that lie ahead.”

In particular, we envision the HGYC being able to leverage the role of youth organizations in Hawai'i and internationally through a combination of:

• Working with existing youth programs in Hawai'i to identify areas where strategic partnerships can help expand the opportunities available to Hawai'i's youth to become involved in international dialogue and interaction.
• Designing training programs that enable young leaders to more effectively communicate and interact with policy and opinion makers;
• Creating opportunities for inter-cultural, multi-ethnic, inter-generational and inter-religious meetings and dialogue;
• Providing high quality information on world-affairs and encouraging young people themselves to collect, exchange and disseminate such information utilizing new information technologies so that the HGYC becomes part of Hawai'i's digital revolution;
• Awarding grants to youth groups for innovative projects that emphasize a more sustainable and peaceful future.

All of these activities will require substantial resources and careful planning on how the HGYC can create new opportunities for the youth of Hawai'i and their peers around the world, and not just duplicate existing programs of the many youth organizations currently operating in Hawai'i.  If initial funding is provided by the State of Hawai'i, however, we feel confident that such resources will be available from the foundation community, private sector, and elsewhere to enable the Hawai'i Global Youth Center to become a major gateway for the youth of Hawai'i to the world around them.  Thank you again for the opportunity of providing testimony in support of the Global Youth Center.

Contact: Dr. Teresita Bernales, HGYC coordinator, at 808-256-8747.

Dr. Jeffrey Boutwell, Executive Director                                               
Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs (1995 Nobel Peace Prize)
1111 19^th St., NW, Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-478-3440; email: pugwashdc@aol.com

Testimony

by

JUAN PABLO PARDO-GUERRA

to the

SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Senator Norman Sakamoto, Chair

Senator Jill N. Tokuda, Vice Chair

DATE: Wednesday, February 07, 2007

TIME:  1:15 PM

PLACE:           Conference Room 225

State Capitol

415 South Beretania Street

 

In Consideration of

SB# 1177

TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007

STATE OF HAWAII

Testimony by
JUAN PABLO PARDO-GUERRA
to the
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
In Consideration of SB #1177 (Wednesday, 7 February 2007)

Chair Senator Norman Sakamoto,
Vice Chair Jill N. Tokuda,
Members of the Senate Committee on Education.

With this brief testimony, I endorse Senate Bill #1177 related to the establishment of a Global Youth Center in Hawai’i.

It is difficult for me to avoid stressing the absolute importance of establishing a Global Youth Center in the State of Hawai’i. Living in an era (and being part of a generation) in which global interconnections have become an unfathomable and persistent aspect of our lives, it is easy to forget the importance of space, time and location. In other words, it is easy to lose sight of the importance of face-to-face interaction, the advantages presented by close interaction with our generational peers and colleagues.

The creation of a center in Hawai’i in which young people from different cultures and nations will be able to meet, initiate, coordinate, and sustain a variety of innovative projects aimed at promoting a better understanding of the challenges of our shared future will therefore bring added-value to the existing chorus of people and organizations working on the construction of a better world. The Global Youth Center is a unique project that will greatly contribute to the efforts of countless youth organizations worldwide as well as to the future of the State of Hawai’i, its citizens, and its institutions.  

As Chair of the Executive Board of International Student/Young Pugwash, I have had the great pleasure of following the development of this project since its earliest stages. It was the spirit, hard work and dedication of people like Stephanie McCandless Reford and Jeffrey Boutwell, the comments and suggestions of many members of International Student/Young Pugwash, as well as the continued efforts of a great number of people in Hawai’i which offered this project both a sound foundation and an inspiring quality. Surely, the inertia generated by these people will carry the Global Youth Center to a promising future.

As an organization formed by students and young professionals spanning several countries and a wide variety of academic disciplines, International Student/Young Pugwash is committed to facilitate the operation of the Global Youth Center by planning, developing, and tracking numerous joint programs; enabling collaboration with other institutions and non-governmental organizations; and contributing with a fresh, effective, and inclusive modality of approaching complex international and regional issues. Through our network of partners and friends – comprised by researchers and students located in the five continents, members of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, and organizations which include, but are not limited to, the BioWeapons Prevention Project (Switzerland), the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (India), and the Forum for Young Diplomats (Poland) – we can aid the Global Youth Center in developing state-of-the-art programs on a variety of topics, from conflict resolution and international cooperation to sustainable rural development and the many aspects of human security. It is therefore that, on behalf of our community, I cannot but emphasize the willingness of our organization to participate in this initiative.

On behalf of International Student/Young Pugwash,

Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra
Chair of the Executive Board
International Student/Young Pugwash

Science Studies Unit (University of Edinburgh)
21 Buccleuch Place
George Square
Edinburgh
Scotland – UK
EH8 9LN

Report Title:
Appropriation; Global Youth Center

Description:
Appropriates funds to the University of Hawaii to establish a Global Youth Center in Hawaii.

Making an appropriation for a global youth center in hawaii.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

     SECTION 1.  World peace is a major collaborative goal and youth are the key to attaining world peace, sustainability, and productivity for future generations.  Hawaii's location at the center of the Pacific Rim region between Asia and the Americas, its diverse culture, and its many shared languages provide an excellent strategic forum for meetings and exchanges, as demonstrated by the Millennium Youth People's Congress that was held in Hawaii in October 1999.

     The creation of a Global Youth Center in Hawaii presents a unique opportunity for generating a truly international framework through which youth around the world could become actively engaged in the construction of a better future.  It offers youth from around the world an opportunity to identify what they see as the major global issues to be addressed and will train these future leaders to more effectively communicate their concerns so that they can help shape the debate over issues that will directly affect them.

     The Global Youth Center will develop educational programs, conduct original research, and link diverse people and organizations to address some of the problems faced by the world.  The Global Youth Center will work in conjunction with Hawaii educational, political, and business leaders, and representatives at the East-West Center, the International Student/Young Pugwash, and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.  It will serve as a clearinghouse for information on youth policy activities internationally.

     SECTION 2.  There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $140,040, or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2007-2008, and the same sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2008-2009, for the establishment of a Global Youth Center in Hawaii.

     SECTION 3.  The sums appropriated shall be expended by the University of Hawaii for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2007.