IDFC2019
× ×New values
Social inclusion
Social inclusion is not only about the employment but also about creating the comfortable environment where each one of us can feel the existence of ourselves. Although Myanmar and Japan have different features in societies, there always exists people who are marginalized whether consciously or unconsciously. In Japan, social inclusion is gaining its importance where Japan needs to keep sustainability of its depopulating society and to include various types of people. In Myanmar, there might be some people who have been unseen for a long time until now. In IDFC2019, we are going to see numerous ways of social inclusion for different people.
Places we visited
Change is Possible
When we think about social inclusion, we cannot avoid to know about poverty. In SDGs(Sustainable Development Goals), there are 17 goals. One of them is “No poverty”. In addition, during IDFC program in Japan, we visited BIG ISSUE JAPAN; a company with a social mission to “providea not charity but ‘work opportunities”. BIG ISSUE JAPAN is a magazine sold on the street exclusively by homeless people. Their basic idea is “self-help”; solving the problems not by getting assistance from experts but the use of your own efforts. In this case, their strategy is business but the profit for solving the social issues and changing the society.
LGBT
LGBT people at night in Myanmar are mostly being arrested by the police by being accused of a criminal misguise with the sector 375 “rape” 377” unnatural sex not in favor of LGBT.
“MAN MUST BE MAN!” so they say. Whereas we are or who we are, the LGBT people are excluded by the society in Myanmar by tradition. When an LGBT member feels lonesome or depressed, their
parents tend to have the stronger opposition. The word “Karma” is used without realizing the burden it brings. They think LGBT people became the way they are because of the sins they committed in their past lives. So whereas we say the word” Human Rights” they say “ Karma”. These are the LGBT exclusion issues of Myanmar and Japan some still being a merely discussed matters.
Women Empowerment
In both Japan and Myanmar’s past, there are traditional norms that discriminates the existence of women such as not being allowed to receive the family inheritance. Women's’ longyi (skirts) and men's’ clothes are still washed separately nowadays so that men’s éclat would not fade; a symbolic act of regarding women as a less worthy gender. With household management, women are left to take care of the chores and the children by themselves with only financial support from the husbands as a source of income.
In addition, women in both countries are being discriminated at the workplace and the salary gap between men and women is one of the known-but-yet-to-be-solved issues in Myanmar. Even though both women and men are working under the same positions, it can clearly be seen that men can earn more salaries than women as men are physically stronger than women. Meanwhile in Japan, the majority of women in Japan tend to quit the job due to their pregnancy and when women resume their work after their pregnancy, the salary wage seemed to be even much lower than what they earn before the pregnancy.
But through discussions at a site visit in Yangon named Rainfall Gender Study Organization, we learned that the modern women have been defying society’s conservative oppression by receiving quality education and also empowering other women to unleash their potential, to become aware of toxic cultural obligations that had prevented them to be an equal member of the society because they are also available human capitals for the nation.
GroupD:Saki Nakazato, Mizuki Hagiwara, May Phyo Paing, Aye Shweyi Cho, Hein Thu Soe
"Leave No One Behind"
“We are not only selling magazines. We are also making our citizens think how to create a better society,” Ms. Yoko Suma, a staff from The Big Issue said. The Big Issue Japan is a social business which publishes bi-weekly magazines sold by homeless people since September 2003. The price of a Big Issue magazine is 350 Yen and vendors earn 180 Yen for each copy. Moreover, they deliver SOS guidelines for homeless people who are called internet-cafe refugees or Mc. Donald Refugees as they believe that it is important to create an inclusive society and social inclusion matters.
When we achieve social inclusion to a certain extent, more people can join in society and more people can brightly show their capabilities. Likewise, regardless of ethnic races, gender and sexual orientation, we all have different values. None of us should not be excluded since we all have own identities. However, all over the world, there are still many inequalities in human rights issues, education access, and career development opportunities e.g- basing on different gender and sexuality.
The conservative thoughts in religious beliefs that “People who commit adultery in their past life become homosexual as a form of sins” have been resided in Myanmar. For instance, LGBT people (especially Transgender women) are discriminated in schools and workplaces. Make it worse, they are arrested and give in police harassment Penal code 377 which prohibits unnatural sexual intercourse. These incidents occur even in Japan like same-sex marriage is not allowed legally.
Whereas being discriminated women’s capabilities, Japanese women were forced to do only household works and served the finest to the family and husband. And, Myanmar women had been pressured and got unequal salaries or positions compared to men in workplaces. It can cause psychological inferiority complex to individuals and each person can be momentarily lost their lives leading many discriminations from the society. Hence we need to put stronger efforts to promote social inclusion. We all should owe respect to each other to create a warm atmosphere, and of course, an inclusive society.
“I was looking only for my benefits first. Then I had changed my mindset by renewing myself and giving priorities to others in my community after joining the Big Issue,” said Mr. Tokuchika Nishi, a vendor supported by Big Issue. After he had worked as a part of selling magazines at Big Issue, he could build his self-esteem and enjoy involving with same perspective people at there.
Now, he is leading to become a professional dancer at the Big Issue Foundation. And, he starts to feel like he is not excluded anymore and thinks
“To make changes, it doesn’t need to do only big things,” BIG ISSUE believes. Thus, they CHANGE SOCIETY from the STREET! You can be a changemaker too. What to do? Just appreciate the existence of every human being, and LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND.
about contributing something back to his community. This would be a great case-study to prove how social inclusion can create good impacts and foster positivity in the society.
TeamC: Riho Tanaka, Hein Min Aung, Ingyin Phyu
