The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) selected two AAJA members who attended the Pan-Asian Youth Leadership Summit in September 2004.
Sonia Krishnan and Eiji Yamashita were selected from among more than 20 journalism professional and student applicants ages 18-30 to report on the summit in Hiroshima, Japan. Krishnan is a freelance writer with nearly two years' experience reporting from Tokyo, as well as a former staff writer at the Contra Costa Times and Philadelphia Inquirer. Yamashita is a full-time reporter for The Hanford Sentinel in California, where he covers city government, agriculture and health issues as they relate to rural and impoverished communities.
The summit in Hiroshima brings together young leaders and representatives of youth organizations from across Asia, giving them a platform on which they can network, exchange ideas and experiences, and share proposals for how they can advance the Millennium Development Goals agenda. The delegates, one male and one female from a number of Asian countries, were nominated by UNDP offices and will map out their own plan of action to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals. All of the delegates are between 18 and 30 years old.
The goal of the summit is for Asian and African youth leaders to work together to build an international network of youth working collaboratively to address some of the most critical and pressing global and regional issues.
Judging for this international reporting opportunity was done by UNDP representatives; AAJA Study Tours Program Director Lloyd LaCuesta of KTVU-Fox 2 in the San Francisco Bay Area; AAJA National Board member Jennifer Morita, staff writer at the The Sacramento Bee; and AAJA Atlanta Chapter member Zela Chin, editorial assistant at CNN.