Arigatou International
Arigatou International is currently engaged in three major activities
 The first relates to the ethics education initiative and the activities of the Interfaith Council on Ethics Education for Children which is an initiative initiatied by the GNRC. The major activity besides organizing various meetings for the members of the Council and its Committee, is the development of the resource material for Ethics Education through Interfaith Learning that the Interfaith Council has singled out as a first priority. The resource material "Learning to Live Together" is a set of tools for youth leaders and teachers around the world, employing a new interfaith learning process to empower children and young people to develop a strong sense of ethics.
Learning to Live Together is designed to help the young to better understand and respect people from other cultures and religions and nurture a sense of global community. The kit provides tools for educators to develop innovative and critical thinking in their students, to nurture non-violent behaviours and to empower children to become agents of social change. Through workshops involving students from different religious and cultural backgrounds wherever possible, the new ethics program seeks to help youth to empathize with others, encouraging greater individual and collective responsibility and fostering a spirit of reconciliation. It provides a vehicle for youth to encounter and examine values with their peers from different religious, cultural, and social backgrounds, and to apply what they learn to the real challenges of their daily lives. The resource manual has been field-tested in a variety of settings around the world.
The second major activity is the Joint GNRC - UNICEF study Children in World Religions. The study project aims at assessing how the child, children and young people are portrayed in religious scriptures, are cared for, are ministered to and are treated in religious communities and how young people view themselves in their religious context. The study will provide information as well as tools and material addressing how religious communities relate to and can contribute to the implementation of the CRC.
The overall outcome is envisaged as both a resource and an advocacy tool for a multitude of constituencies, most importantly for religious communities, religious and faith based NGOs and for UNICEF country offices. Several products will emanate from the overall outcome, including a manual with information for advocacy initiatives, leaflets on specific issues and ideas for discourses on specific issues.
 The third major activity is the preparation for the GNRC Third Forum scheduled for 24 - 26 May in Hiroshima, Japan. Religious leaders from around the world and top UN officials will launch a worldwide initiative promoting ethics education in May 2008 at the Third Forum of the Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC) in Hiroshima, Japan.
The Forum will bring together hundreds of leaders from the world’s major religious traditions, educators, business executives and media personalities, as well as senior officials and experts from UNICEF, UNESCO, and other UN agencies to help strengthen the UN-led commitment to securing the rights and protection of children around the world.
Prior to the Third Forum, children and youth will meet for the Children's Forum on 22 - 23 May 2008 with the purpose of preparing and empowering the children and youth for their participation in the GNRC Third Forum. Around 50 children from abroad and from Hiroshima will be using the resource manual Learning to Live Together to work with the theme and the sub themes of the Third Forum to bring in their own perspective of the issues of poverty eradication, fighting violence and safeguarding the environment.
Arigatou International is in addition closely following the work of the UN Human Rights Council and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child as issues pertaining to children are on the agenda of these UN bodies. Arigatou International supports and facilitates the regional work of the GNRC. Regular meeting with GNRC Coordinators in all seven major regions of the world are arranged by Arigatou International.
Arigatou International convenes the NGO Group Subgroup on Education, Media and Literacy since the beginning of 2003.
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Interfaith Council on Ethics Education for Children
