Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation to train future change-makers

On its 55th year of giving out Asia's equivalent of the Nobel Prize, the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF) is going beyond its tradition of honoring the change-makers by taking a more direct approach—training future leaders.

 

RMAF announced Saturday at a private screening of a documentary on previous Magysaysay awardees that it will the launch later this month the Magsaysay Institute for Transformative Leadership (MITL), a training center for youth leaders and civic organizations in Asia.

 

In an interview with GMA News Online, RMAF Advocacy Officer Marie Kiel Fernandez said the foundation saw the need to launch a training center for advocacy groups and the youth because an internal study showed that RMAF needs to do more beyond giving awards to sustain its vision of promoting change in Asia.

 

“They (RMAF officers and trustees) found out na sa mundo natin ngayon, hindi na enough na nagdo-document at nagho-honor lang tayo ng greatness of spirit. Hindi lang pwedeng iyon lang ang gawin namin. We need to spread the solution by training the youth. Since 2008, on our 50th year, kino-conceptualize na namin yung MITF,” she said.

 

By training the youth, Fernandez said the foundation aims to develop a “successor generation” that will follow in the footsteps of the Magsaysay laureates and make an impact on society.

 

The RMAF said the training center will be officially launched on August 12 and 13. 

 

Park Won Soon, South Korean lawyer and activist who won the 2006 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service, will be in Manila during the two-day event to attend dialogues with government officials, members of the civil sector and journalists about anti-corruption programs and ethical, participatory governance.

 

MITL is designed to link up Ramon Magsaysay awardees with leaders seeking for sustainable solutions to the region's most pressing problems of poverty, inequality, corruption and environmental degradation.

 

RMAF said it plans to train select individuals and groups at the institute through online face-to-face meetings and workshops, lecture series by and dialogues with the awardees, immersion in the related work of the awardees and trainings on organizational development. The foundation, however, has not yet disclosed the specific training programs it will be offering in the coming months.

 

RMAF was established in 1957 in honor of the well-loved Philippine president who was best known as the “Champion of the Masses” because of his charismatic brand of leadership.

 

For more than half a century, the foundation has been recognizing outstanding individuals and organizations in Asia each year that have made significant contributions toward improving the lives of their countrymen.

 

For this year, three individuals, including a Filipino, and two organizations will be receiving the Magsaysay Awards.

 

Ernesto Domingo, a 76-year-old Filipino doctor, was recognized by RMAF for his advocacy of pushing for the early vaccination of babies against hepatitis B to almost eliminate their chances of getting infected. 

 

Prelude

 

Even before MITL's launch was formally announced, Fernandez said the training center has carried out some training projects linking both the awardees and civic groups.

 

Last May for instance, some representatives of non-government organizations from the Philippines flew to Bangalore, India to study the low-cost solar lighting technology developed by 2011 Magsaysay laureate Harish Hande.

 

“May mga na-inform na kaming awardees about this project and all of them are excited to take part in this. May iba na gusto na nilang maipakita na kaagad sa iba yung mga ginagawa nila. Hindi naman kasi ipinagdadamot ng mga awardees yung knowledge nila at gusto talaga nilang ituro 'yon sa iba,” she said.

 

And although various schools and centers have launched their own training programs for leaders, Fernandez believes MITL is unique because participants will learn from the esteemed awardees themselves.

 

“MITL will be different because it is about an Asian brand of leadership. Sa ngayon kasi, we are heavily influenced by the Western way of doing things. MITL will strive to define why the Asian way of leadership works,” she said.  — ELR, GMA News