Each country has an association for alumni members, founded for the purpose of continuing the spirit that was fostered through the SWY program, Global Leaders Development Program (GLDP), and Ship for World Youth Leaders (SWY) – hereinafter, SWY program and its succeeding programs. SWYAA International promotes and supports the spirit of leadership towards achieving cross-cultural understanding, international cooperation and world peace developed during the SWY and its succeeding programs.

As of April 2016, 26 countries are registered as full members, 7 countries as associate members, and including those who have not yet officially registered, there is a network of a total of 64 countries around the world that are involved in various social contribution activities.

1. Maintain the network of the former participants of the SWY program and its succeeding programs;
2. Sustain international friendship and strengthen cooperation among the member countries;
3. Engage in activities that contribute to the home country and the international society;
4. Support and develop leaders in the home country and member countries who will contribute to society;
5. Strengthen ties with the local government in charge of youth affairs;
6. Strengthen ties with the embassies of the member countries and especially the Japanese Embassy; and
7. Strengthen ties with the Japanese community.

1. Organize activities, locally and internationally, which would lead to social contribution, volunteer initiatives, and development initiatives;
2. Strengthen the network of members in the home country;
3. Enhance information exchange among members in the home country and the SWYAA International member countries;
4. Communicate with, and make periodic reports to, the Japanese Embassy;
5. Provide a means of communication for the former participating youth (ex-PYs) and present participating youth (PYs) of the SWY program;
6. Support future participants of the SWY program; and
7. Keep and maintain up-to-date information of alumni members.

a ) Ship for World Youth Alumni Association Tokyo Conference (Ex-PY Conference)

This annual conference is sponsored by the Cabinet Office, the Japanese Government, and is attended by SWYAA representatives. The purpose of this conference is to exchange information on the development of post-program activities, as well as the structure and depth of each country’s SWYAA, which provide the foundation for such activities. An additional objective of the conference is to have discussions to develop an international network of holistic ties between each country and the IYEO in Japan. Basically, participants discuss how the SWYAA network can be used in activities for the betterment of society, future directions of post-program activities, and how ex-PYs can contribute to the programs.

To date, the results of past conferences include: the development of a homestay network; recommendation to have ex-PYs as advisors on the SWY program; development of a preparatory manual for PYs prior to the program or the handbook for National Leaders; development of a promotional kit to introduce the SWY program; setting up rules for the use of mailing list; and writing down a guideline which SWYAA members can use to conduct pre-departure orientation session for the new participants of the coming SWY program. The “Global Photo Contests” were organized four times starting from 2004 to promote cultural exchange and to strengthen the alumni network locally and globally. In 2005, a logo contest was launched to decide the common logo for SWYAA. In 2006, Handbook for Cultural Understanding was revised into a digital form to be uploaded on the website, and an official video of SWY program (10 minutes version) was created which can be used for promotion of the program. In 2007, in order to commemorate the 20th anniversary of SWY in 2008, it was agreed to work on collecting history of each SWY batch on the website (SWY History on Website), SWY Calendar, implement Charity Lunch, and contribute to the environment by planting “SWY Forest” in various countries. In 2008, as part of the international relief activities, IYEO began its cooperation with the project in Kenya (humanitarian support to the Internally Displaced Persons) and the educational assistance project in Sri Lanka (One More Child Goes to School Project). From 2009 to 2010, it was agreed to compile a material for cross-cultural understanding education, and to jointly work on a project under the name “Homestay + 1” where homestay recipients are encouraged to organize volunteer activity so that the visitor can experience something extra (“plus one” experience). Also, movement to collect information on former participants with prominent background or to collect testimonials about the meaning of the SWY program started.

b ) SWYAA Global Assembly (GA)

International Reunion, which was held at a port of call on the SWY program route, was reformed into SWYAA Global Assembly from 2007. Any active SWYAA is given an opportunity to hold an annual Global Assembly, which is not merely an international reunion for the ex-PYs, but also a forum to discuss about post-program activities and how to promote social contribution activities locally and internationally. Conference for Post-Program Activities is an opportunity for the participants to understand about the activities taking place in different countries, and also to share the outcomes.

• The 1st GA – Athens, Greece (September 5 to 9, 2007)
• The 2nd GA – Tokyo, Japan (August 21 to 24, 2008)
• The 3rd GA – Brisbane, Australia (September 2 to 6, 2009)
• The 4th GA – Cairo, Egypt (October 9 to 12, 2010)
• The 5th GA – Mexico City, Mexico (September 28 to October 2, 2011)
• The 6th GA – Bahrain (October 4 to 8, 2012)
• The 7th GA – Lima, Peru (August 29 to September 2, 2013)
• The 8th GA – Istanbul, Turkey (August 30 to September 3, 2014)
• The 9th GA – Nadi, Fiji (August 12 to 16, 2015)

a ) SWY News

This is an in-house paper published annually in English, focusing specifically on the post-program activities of the SWY program and its succeeding programs. Regardless of whether one is Japanese or an overseas participant, alumni from the previous 10 programs, as well as subscribers receive this paper. SWY News is filled with articles on details of post-program activities in various countries, a report of the SWYAA Ex-PY Conference proceedings, and the latest news of ex-PYs from all over the world. Thus far, 23 issues have been published.

b ) Exchanging Information Through the Internet

Mirroring the move towards electronic information, a mailing list was set up in 1996 to encourage sharing of information and resources among the ex-PYs. Furthermore, based on the Ex-PY Conference held in 1999, a common SWYAA website was developed in 2000, which provided a forum to introduce various projects and activities taking place in different countries. In addition to this, there have been many mailing lists set up for ex-PYs to share information on a variety of topics.

c ) SWYAA Directory

In the SWYAA directory, the name, address, phone number, fax number, e-mail address and area of interest of all ex-PYs are listed. This information is useful for alumni to get in touch with one another and promote their activities.

• SWYAA International Charter
• SWYAA International Joint Statement