ON Sept. 14, 2019, the University of San Jose-Recoletos conducted its first MISMO Summit event spearheaded by the Josenian Junior Diplomats (JJD), in partnership with the National Youth Volunteers Coalition (NYVC), an organization composed of International Studies students. The summit was attended by students from different university programs, the Senior High School Department, and teachers—open to all who wished to learn more about the Sustainable Development Goals and how the country can achieve it through a collective effort of the youth.
Moreover, it was composed of two sessions. The first one was initiated by speakers such as Judy Ann Null, from the NYVC Visayas Region, Dr. Sheridan Gajete, Major Christian Uy, PA and Corina Encabo, a USJ-R college professor, who talked about the different societal issues concerning the creation of the SDGs and how the youth can be active members through volunteerism. The participants were then divided into committees such as “Health,” “Environment,” “Humanitarian and Disaster Response,” “Active Citizenship,” and “Socio-Inclusion and Equity Peace” to educate them more extensively about the different societal issues that pique their interests and hopefully inspire them to take action in later years. Each committee aimed to widen and strengthen the universal call to pursue the 2030 Global Goals.
This initiative was made possible by a series of sponsors such as the NYC (National Youth Commission), MEDIRICH, BODPRO Print Solutions, Titay’s, Frasco Water, Sta. Cruz Engineering Services, RNCC Engineering Works, and Basic Pharma—among others.
The MISMO Summit in USJ-R is just one of the many attempts to inspire the youth to pursue radical change in society, starting with their own environment. Through the collective effort and support of the university’s faculty, speakers, sponsors, and JJD members and officers, the event was a success that would hopefully imbue in—not just the participants during that day, but every other individual in our society the spirit of volunteerism.