November 19, 2024
His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Miniter of Tolerance and Coexistence ladies and gentleman, and Children:
Let me thank everyone here today in Abu Dhabi and all those joining us online for participating in this Sixth Forum of the GNRC. In particular, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Miniter of Tolerance and Coexistence for his attendance in his busy schedule. I would also like to thank the Interfaith Alliance for Safer Communities and the GNRC Sixth Forum International Organizing Committee for all of the good work they have done to organize this forum.
I am told that GNRC members sharing the spirit of GNRC have come from 67 countries to participate in the forum. I know that it is your activities that have sustained the GNRC to this day. I hope you will make good use of the experience and wisdom you have gained in your work for children to make this forum a success.
Arigatou International, the organization which inaugurated the GNRC was established on October 12, 1990, by Myochikai, a Japanese Buddhist organization. It was born from my conviction that it is an urgent need to save the lives of children, who are the bearers of peace, and was part of our effort to enhance our peace activities.
Let me tell you, however, that the process of its birth was far from smooth. In the beginning, there were only two staff members — Mr. Iwasaki, who now serves as Acting Secretary General, and me. We rented a storage room in the second basement of the Myochikai building and used it as the office. I visited the Japan Committee for UNICEF every day, after my regular work was done, to learn more about the reality facing children around the world and the environment they were living in. I was able to believe that we could somehow make a difference, thanks to the strong encouragement of my father, the late Rev. Takeyasu Miyamoto, and the members of Myochikai, who supported this effort both financially and spiritually.
What I felt most keenly in the course of Arigatou’s efforts back then was the need for greater cooperation and collaboration among religious people and organizations around the world who shared the same concern and vision for children. This led to the birth of the GNRC. Originally, the main idea of the GNRC was simply to foster more exchange of information and views via the Internet. It was not easy to gain people’s understanding about the potential of this networking in the days when the Internet was not yet pervasive. Nevertheless, we set about organizing the GNRC First Forum in Tokyo in May 2000, intending to launch the GNRC and deepen understanding of this idea of interfaith networking for children. In preparation for the forum, I visited religious leaders and organizations around the world to request their support, and thanks to their good graces, we were able to bring together many who shared the same concern from all over the world for an enthusiastic exchange of ideas and opinions. The results were better than we had expected, and we were encouraged by the good response to the idea of the GNRC.
After the forum, we asked for volunteers to serve as coordinators of the GNRC from among the participants, and in response they came together, again and again, to explore the future of the GNRC and how it should proceed. The network grew rapidly thanks to the deep concern for children and dedicated service of these volunteers and all the GNRC members. Also receiving cooperation from UNICEF and other organizations, the GNRC began to make steady progress. The GNRC Second Forum was held in Geneva, the Third in Hiroshima, the Fourth in Tanzania, and the Fifth in Panama City, and at each forum, new global initiatives were launched.
Many profound steps have been taken between the forums, but in particular, the speech made by Rev. Takeyasu Miyamoto, then-President of Arigatou International, to the United Nations in 2002 was a major milestone for Arigatou International and the GNRC, and it became a source of strength for further development. And now, today, we are here in Abu Dhabi for the GNRC Sixth Forum. I would like to thank all the people who have supported us as well as our dear friends who have passed away. You have made Arigatou International and the GNRC what they are today. Words cannot express how grateful I am to all of you. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
This Sixth Forum both inherits and continues the aspirations and devotion of all those who have shared the same concern and vision for children over these many years. I believe that the strong determination to carry on this mission, which brings you all here to participate in this forum, will certainly further expand and strengthen interreligious cooperation for the sake of children, and I sincerely hope that this will bring hope to children around the world.
Thank you very much.
