AUSTRALIA’S Young Christian Workers (YCW) national secretary Sara Kane is hoping to make a fair go for young people in the workplace a key focus in the lead up to next year’s World Youth Day celebrations in Sydney.
Ms Kane was one of two young people who represented the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference at the 9th International Youth Forum in Rome on Palm Sunday.
The forum, from March 28 to April 1, with its theme “Witnessing Christ in the World of Work”, was attended by about 300 young workers from around the globe.
Ms Kane from Perth and Adam Crouch from Port Lincoln, South Australia, represented Australia.
Ms Kane said the forum had given her new insights into the Church’s teachings on the rights of workers, which in many ways reaffirmed the YCW’s stand on the issue.
Ms Kane said there was a big focus in the Rome forum on the impact of globalisation.
“We all heard how this force was impacting on each and every worker in different ways – whether they were from pre or post industrial societies.”
Ms Kane said World Youth Day in Sydney would provide an opportunity to discuss some of young workers’ issues, raised at the Rome forum, with a much wider audience.
As many as 500,000 young people from around the world are expected to attend the event in July 2008.
