"I would like to offer my congratulations to The Anne Funds Project and all those involved in the organisation of this important Japanese national conference on 12th and 13th of December 2009.  I like the title of the of the conference: “Consider what children want with out-of-home care” because for the last 28 years that is what we have tried to do with the young people involved with IFCO.  I am sure your international speakers from IFCO, Stephen Ucembe & Emmanuel Sherwin, will inspire you both to support each other through networks and support groups and also to come together nationally to demand change for the future.   IFCO Board member Mamoru Watanabe (Nabe) has told me that “at the conference, young people who have experienced out-of-home care will be given opportunities to speak out and share their opinions.  The voices and thoughts could be not only empowering young people and children in care but also making adults realize that “Child Welfare” in Japan should be reformed.”  Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child   http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/japanese/Jk2crc.htm makes it imperative that the voices and views of young people should be both heard and respected. 

May I wish you all good luck both in your conference and in the future.  This should not be seen as a one-off event but as the start of something bigger – possibly a network of young people who are experiencing or who have experienced the care system in Japan.  To borrow a slogan from those people who helped create the recent Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ,(signed but not yet ratified by Japan), who demanded that they always be actively involved in the planning of strategies that affect their lives:
"Nothing about Us, Without Us"
  
Chris Gardiner.   IFCO President.