● Notable speakers on today’s challenges: cohesion, elderly inclusion, migration
● National and regional youth leaders discuss humanitarian trends and issues
● Signs MoU with Republic Polytechnic, a first of its kind between SRC and an institute of higher learning

Singapore, 1 July 2017 - The Singapore Red Cross (SRC) today held its inaugural Singapore Humanitarian Youth Summit, featuring a series of lectures on pressing humanitarian issues, a youth symposium on humanitarian trends, and a ‘model’ International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) General Assembly.

Mr Amrin Amin, Parliamentary Secretary for Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Health gave a keynote speech on Community Cohesion and Security to 200 youth leaders aged 17 to 35, who also attended lectures on Elderly Inclusion, Voluntary Blood Donation and Migration, and proposed ideas in support of these humanitarian trends. Their proposals were discussed at the ‘model’ IFRC General Assembly, which identified tangible ways for the proposals to be implemented by SRC or IFRC.

Mr Benjamin William, Secretary General/CEO of SRC said, “Youth play a very important, if not critical, role in meeting today’s humanitarian challenges. When you combine their exuberance and zest for life, with the passion for humanitarian causes, you are able to release immense energy, dynamism and creativity. Working with youth at SRC, we have seen how their vigour and openness has the ability to challenge norms, break down barriers and turn sceptics into friends. The youth summit aims to increase their exposure and understanding of the humanitarian challenges we face today, in the hope that they will set off ripples of positive change in their social circles and the community at large.”

The Summit speakers include Mr Laurence Lien, Chairman of the Lien Foundation and Ms Eleanor Yap, Director/Editor of Ageless Pte Ltd who spoke on Elderly Inclusion; Ms Shirley Ng of SRC’s Blood Donation Recruitment Programme, and Mr Sulaiman Bin Suradi, a blood beneficiary, who shared on the importance of blood donation; and Mr Ezekiel Simperingham, Asia Pacific Regional Migration Coordinator at IFRC, who spoke on Migration.

In the spirit of engaging more young persons in humanitarian action, SRC also signed a two-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Republic Polytechnic (RP), a first of its kind between SRC and a local institute of higher learning. The collaboration covers overseas humanitarian projects, curriculum development, student internships, blood donation programmes, social enterprise initiatives and humanitarian outreach.

The MOU cements RP and SRC’s close working relations, having collaborated on several projects including a photo and video documentary produced by RP Diploma in Mass Communication students for the 5th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, among others.

Principal/CEO of Republic Polytechnic, Mr Yeo Li Pheow said, “We are pleased to embark on this partnership with Singapore Red Cross (SRC). At Republic Polytechnic, we place great importance on the character development of our students beyond their academic pursuits, so that they are imbued with good values and contribute towards society. This collaboration with SRC will provide our students with greater opportunities for local and overseas service learning while honing their professional skills for the industry.”

RP students from relevant diploma programmes will gain valuable industry-relevant skills, such as campaign ideation and execution, media content creation and curation and social enterprise management of thrift shops and bazaar sales. The opportunity for students to participate in overseas humanitarian projects, internships, blood donation drives and humanitarian advocacy efforts will also support RP in nurturing passionate citizens with a heart for others.

The MOU will enable SRC to tap on the Media Lab at RP’s School of Management and Communication. The new facility is an ideation and content creation hub that offers a suite of services, including broadcast production, content creation and PR/Marcom services for students to collaborate with industry partners such as SRC. The facility allows students to be immersed in a newsroom or communications agency environment and also benefits industry partners as they tap on the creativity and energy of the students through joint projects such as strategy development, writing and design for communication campaigns.

Speech by Mr Amrin Amin, Parliamentary Secretary for Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Health
Speech by Mr Benjamin William, Secretary General of Singapore Red Cross
Speech by Mr Yeo Li Pheow, Principal and CEO of Republic Polytechnic