In his keynote speech at the 15th East Asian Seminar on the UN system, Jiemian YANG, President Emeritus, Shanghai Institutes for Int’l Studies noted the need for East Asia to build up more consensus on the future orientations of their partnerships of regional and global governance. Click here for the full text of his speech.
The academic councils of the three Northeast Asian countries, the China Academic Net for United Nations Studies (CANUNS), the Japan Association for United Nations Studies (JAUNS) and the Korea Academic Council on the United Nations System (KACUNS) met and discussed global and regional peace and security issues along with sustainable development and human rights. Please click here for the full story and program.
Mr. Michael Emery, a key member of the UN Inter-agency Outreach Missions to Japan, says the UN is determined to increase Japan`s representation and points to the importance of Japanese applicants having “soft” as well as “hard” competencies and a second UN language including French, Spanish or Arabic, in addition to English to enhance employment chances in the United Nations.
In his article contributed to the Japan Times, Professor Ramesh Thakur of the Australian National University postulates that Russian President Vladmir Putin has challenged the notion that the West is the chosen ruler of the world and the US President is one who must be obeyed. Please click here for the full text of Professor Ramesh Thakur.
At the UN General Assembly on 29 September 2015, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stressed his intention to provide financial and technical assistance for Syrian refugees. On the previous day, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China would expand its engagement with the UN and send 8,000 troops as part of the UN peacekeeping forces. Korean President Park Geun-hye urged the international community to focus on resolving the North Korean nuclear issue.
On September 17 at JCK Youth Forum, Professors Jieun Park of UNA-ROK and Sukehiro Hasegawa of UNA-Japan and Ms. Li Xueyao of UNA-China listened to JCK students make presentations of their discussions on lessons learned from history, climate change and humanitarian assistance. Please click here about what the Japanese students said. (Hiroto Kiyozumi)
In his interview with NHK World, Professor Sukehiro Hasegawa, Former Special Representative of UN Secretary-General, expressed his hope that Japan continue to be guided by its own aspiration to attain “an honored place” in the international community, as Shigemitsu declared in his statement to the General Assembly when Japan was admitted to the UN in 1956. Please click here to find out more about what he said.
On September 16, 2015, the JCK Youth Forum held a cultural night show. The Japanese students excelled in their performance of traditional songs and dances. Please click here for a full story and more pictures.
At the opening session of the Japan-China-Korea Youth Forum held on September 15, 2015 in the historic city of Gyeongju, President of UN Association of China, Ambassador Lu Shumin calls on 80 students from Japan, China and Korea to learn from the history, have courage to take on responsibilities, have the wisdom to seek common ground and keep an open mind to embrace differences. Please click here for the full text of his opening remarks.
The sixth trilateral youth forum of Japanese, Chinese and Korean students was opened by its Secretary-General, KIM Dong Hyeon, on September 15, 2015. Presidents and Vice Presidents of the UN Associations of Japan, China and Korea as well as the World Federation of UN Associations participated in the opening ceremony.
At the meeting of HPC Council held on10 September 2015 at the UN University in Tokyo, Council Chair Hasegawa suggested the need to reflect the recommendations of four key advisory panels and bodies on UN peace operations and post-2015 sustainable development agenda. Please click here for the full text of his remarks.
The UN General Assembly will take up during its current session in September-December 2015 the recommendations made by three high level panels and an expert group as well as draft resolution submitted by the General Assembly President. Please click here to access these reports.
Ashraf Swelam, Director of CCCPA, announced on August 27 that former President of Timor-Leste José Ramos-Horta and former Foreign Minister of Algeria Lakhdar Brahimi had accepted the invitations from the Cairo Center for Conflict Prevention and Peacekeeping in Africa (CCCPA) to become members of the CCCPA International Advisory Board. Please click here for a full list of the members.
On August 27, 2015, under the chairmanship of Amr Moussa, former Secretary General of the League of Arab States, the International Advisory Board of the Cairo Center for Conflict Resolution and Peacekeeping in Africa (CCCPA) held its first meeting in Cairo, Egypt. Please click here for more about the meeting and documents discussed by the Board.
One day before Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made his statement or “danwa” about the 70th anniversary of the end of the War, Mr. Yohei Kono spoke on 13 August 2015 about its implications and ramifications in his appearance in a BS Fiji TV Prime News program (part1 / part2). Please click here for main points made by Mr. Kono and his statement issued in 1993.
During the workshop held from 6 to 8 August 2015 in Tokyo, the JCK students reviewed NHK reports on why and how Japan engaged in the acts of war in Asia and the Pacific during the 1930’s and the 1940’s. Please click here to find out what the students found out from the NHK reports.
On 1 July 20015, Mr. Yasushi Akashi, former Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the former Yugoslavia spoke to a group of policy makers, scholars and specialists at an international conference held in the Hague on the international decision-making process with reference to the Srebrenica genocide. Please click here for the full text of his opening remarks.
On August 10, 2015, the Executive Committee of Academic Council on the UN System and its Board of Directors unanimously decided to establish its Liaison Office and to appoint Professor Hasegawa as the first ACUNS Liaison Officer in Tokyo. Prior to this appointment, Hasegawa chaired an ACUNS session at the Hague Institute of Global Justice in the Netherlands on June 11.
On 7 July, Mr. Yasushi Akashi, Vice President of the UN Association of Japan spoke for one hour to a group of ‘best and brightest’ students who will participate in the JCK youth forum symposium to be held in Gyeongju, South Korea in September 2015.
At a seminar held on 23 June 2015 at the University of Tokyo, Professor Hasegawa identified leadership traits that proved decisive in preventing Timor-Leste from relapsing into intractable conflict and civil war in 2006. Please click here for his presentation.