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.
Key points made during the discussion included the importance for UNDEF to sustain universal value, efficiency in execution of its programs and activities; to assist the institution building; to encourage local, national and regional ownership in democratization process. There was a consensus that Japan should support financially and technically the democratization process and sustaining democratic principles of governance.
Ambassador in charge of International Cooperation for Countering Terrorism and International Organized Crime, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan Eiji YAMAMOTO, explained the incidents of international terrorism has reached its highest frequency in OECD countries, while it declined in Southeast Asia.
The first meeting of the GPAJ Executive Committee was held on June 13 at Le Gourmand Bistro in Ebisu in preparation for the 2018 Annual Research Convention to be held on December 8 at JICA Research Institute at Ichigaya. Nine members commenced their work to be coordinated by Professor Kurosawa as Executive Chairman. (Kenji Nakazawa)
At the 30th Seminar held on Saturday, 26 May 2018 at Tokyo University Komaba Campus, GPAJ members asked the Ambassador how Slovenia gained independence from ex-Yugoslavia and how Slovenia is deal with the mass inflow of refugees and migrants.
Timorese Embassy Counselor Nuno ALVES made a detailed presentation on the political and economic developments since 2008, followed by Daisuke Nihei of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan who provided an analysis of votes received by respective political parties on May 12, 2018. (Report filed by Denishi Joshi)
As the Global Peacebuilding Association of Japan holds a special session on the outcome of the national elections, Chairman of the AMP Xanana Gusmão sends his message affirming the commitment of Timorese political leaders to democratic governance. Please click here for his message.
Oshima found significant Secretary-General António Guterres` assessment that the UN suffered from “Fragmented structures, Byzantine procedures, Endless red tape.”