Speaking in English, he said “I call on all of us to rebuild trust toward the system for international trade. That should be a system that is fair, transparent, and effective in protecting IP (intellectual property) and also in such areas as e-commerce and government procurement.”
Angela Merkel championed a global world order in her address at the World Economic Forum in Davos while Shinzo Abe declared that it was time to rebuild trust in free trade.
Some participants found positive and encouraging signs while others remained skeptical about the possibility for South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and his major adversary, the former vice-president and opposition leader Riek Machar and other tribal leaders to translate the agreement reached in September 2018 into the formation of a stable government. A summary report of discussion will follow.
Asahi newspaper published an op-ed on Triangular Partnership by Takakazu Ito, Senior Programme Officer, Department of Operational Support of the United Nations on 10 January.
On New Year’s Day, 1st of January 2019, my wife, daughter and I made a bus tour to Bellinzona through Swiss Alps mountains, arriving at San Bernardino Pass at more than 2,000 meters high in the Swiss Alps. We finally arrived at Lugano.
More than six months have passed since Mr. Kit Kitatani passed away. I recently met Mrs Akiko Kitatani. She is over 90 years old but very healthy, speak clearly and walk well. Please join me in wishing her continued good health and happiness throughout New Year 2019.
A year-end party was held at the French restaurant, Les Cristalline in Aoyama, Tokyo. In addition to the memories of the events that took place this year, the participants talked about how to move forward next year in the meeting of the Board of Directors on February 9.
Mr. Yasushi Akashi looked at how the UN peace operations had evolved over the years in Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa and pointed out the need to ascertain how Japan can contribute to the UN peace operations in the future. Mr. Akashi served as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Cambodia and in the former Yugoslavia.
2018 Tokyo Peacebuilding Forum was held at JICA Ichigaya Building on December 8, 2018. It was opened by former Under-Secretary-General and Special Representatives of the Secretary-General Mr. Yasushi Akashi and keynote speech was delivered by Ambassador Fumio Iwai, Secretary-General of the Secretariat of the International Peace Cooperation Headquarters of the Cabinet Office of the Government of Japan. Please find the program with pictures of meetings and participants.
HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Generations for Peace met with GPAJ President Sukehiro Hasegawa, Vice President Mio Sato and Secretary General Masakuni Tanimoto and explained the activities of the Generation for Peace (GFP) since it was founded as a peace-through-sport initiative of the Jordan Olympic Committee in 2007.
Four principles of co-existence, namely non-violence, respect for diversity, sharing and caring, and mutual cooperation were presented by Mr. Ken Inoue of the Global Peacebuilding Association of Japan.
Naoko Kumagai, Associate Professor of International University of Japan, found fact-finding is indispensable for the reinforcement of confidence building and useful for preventive diplomacy measures, in particular early warning and mediation.
At the ASEAN Regional Forum held in Nanjing, China, GPAJ President explained that the UN had pursued retributive justice while Timor-Leste preferred restorative justice and reconciliation and friendship following establishment of truth.
Mizuno considers China and Japan have managed potential risk of getting into the Thucydides trap so far and at least have taken tangible steps to build a minimum trust and mutual understanding by agreeing the resumption of visits by the leaders of both countries after a long hiatus.
Ponzio says: Between now and 2020 (the UN’s 75th anniversary), I am working with partner organizations to advance the recommendations of the Albright-Gambari Commission on Global Security, Justice & Governance, including in the areas of “coping with violent conflict & state fragility”, “climate & people”, “governing the hyperconnected global economy”, and “UN and broader global governance reforms.” For further details, please visit: https://www.stimson.org/programs/just-security-2020
