About Us

The world’s population has now surpassed 7 billion and continues to grow. This demographic shift, coupled with economic advancements in countries such as those in the BRICS group, has enabled millions of people to gradually escape poverty.

However, while extreme poverty is decreasing daily, global inequality continues to widen. The accumulation of wealth remains limited to certain regions, and the gap between the wealthy and the impoverished is expanding further. The poorest and most vulnerable individuals in society still suffer and are unable to fully benefit from economic growth.

As the world grows, so do the challenges it faces. Against this backdrop, a growing number of young people in Japan and around the world have developed a strong interest in international development. They are eager to understand global trends and make their voices heard by actively engaging in international development efforts. However, opportunities for these young people to connect, exchange ideas, and establish long-term networks remain limited.

Recognizing this need, we established the International Development Youth Forum (IDYF) in 2012. Our goal is to create a space where young people passionate about international development can come together, learn about development challenges in various countries, share their ideas, and work collectively toward building a global society.

Moreover, we strive to go beyond a one-week conference. We aim to build a long-term network that empowers committed young individuals to leverage the experiences and knowledge they gain at IDYF to develop solutions to international development challenges in their own communities.

Our Vision

Design Our Future

Our goal is to create a better future through international development, built upon the diverse values and experiences of young people from around the world.

We aim to nurture leaders who will contribute to a fair and sustainable future by providing opportunities for discussion, problem-solving, and networking with peers from diverse backgrounds.

Our Aims

(1) Create opportunities for youth to broaden their values, knowledge, and perspectives on international development

We provide platforms for youth to engage in discussions with diverse perspectives and to gain authentic insights from various actors, including those directly involved.

(2) Generate innovative ideas that contribute to the advancement of international development

We create platforms where innovative ideas emerge by combining the diverse backgrounds of youth from around the world with their strength of thinking out of the box.

(3) Build a sustainable network of youth from around the world who are interested in international development, contributing to the solution of global challenges through collaboration.

We will strengthen sustainable and diverse connections among youth, fostering interactions and creating platforms for collaboration on common challenges among young people from around the world who are interested in international development.

Adviser's Message

I must begin this message with the fact that this forum's former adviser, Professor Nobuhiko Fuwa of the University of Tokyo, passed away suddenly and prematurely in 2018. Nobu was one of my dearest friend as well a very respected scholar and educator for more than 35 years. I still cannot overcome losing Nobu, but as one of the researchers in development economics, it is my honor to take over his role of supporting this forum.

As was stated in Nobu's message earlier, I agree that days spent at University are very precious. It is because we can debate and argue over the meaning of our lives, their values, how can we be better contribute to the world, and how we can be happy at the same time- without bothering too much about our time constraint. To enrich our ingredients with which to discuss these important matters in life, interacting with people from all walks of life over the globe without pre-packaged self-interests would be very precious and such interaction would go a long way to forming our lifetime assets.

Mr. Muramatsu, this year's representative for this forum, informed me that the participants are solicited through Facebook to which quite many applicants would respond. I, who belong to the "analogue-native" generation, cannot help feeling a gap with the "digital-native" generation.But I believe it is your digital native generation that should open up to the new ideas and experiments to lead the world for the better future- but do not leave our analogue-native generation behind, please.

As I see the recent development of the world, it seems to be receding from a liberal and open global society towards a narrow-minded self-interest based one century ago. I hope this forum blows away such negative image and helps redirect the discussion towards an open global society.

Finally, I would have to repeat my dear friend Nobu's words: "How exciting it would be to have such friends scattered all over the world for the rest of your life! Had IDYF existed 30 years ago when I was a college student, I would no doubt have joined the forum without hesitation."

Manabu Fujimura

Professor (Development Economics)

Aoyama Gakuin University