In his video message to the Tokyo Peacebuilding Forum, Former President and Nobel Prize Laureate José Ramos-Horta will review the global political and security situation. German Ambassador Ina LEPEL and French Ambassador Laurent PIC will present their perspectives on the prospect for peacebuilding and global governance in this turbulent world. After the keynote speeches, former UN Under-Secretary-General Yasushi AKASHI and former Japanese Ambassador to the United Nations Takahiro SHINYO will provide their views. In the afternoon, the participants of the Forum from not only Japan but other countries will discuss several issues of relevance to peacebuilding and global governance. Please see here the full program.
Message from Nobel Prize Laureate and Former President José Ramos-Horta to Tokyo Peacebuilding Forum (02/11/2019)
The 1996 Nobel Prize Laureate and Former President of Timor-Leste José Ramos-Horta expresses his concern that the United Nations is sidelined and unable to mobilize international good will and discharge its responsibilities in addressing humanitarian and security crises taking place in Africa, Asia and the Middles East. The solutions to these challenges, he suggests, can be found only when the major powers get together and build bridges among them and enhance their mutual understanding and consensus in order to address the global challenges the humanity is facing.
Senior Members of the Diet join in a consultation meeting held by the Japan Commission on Global Governance concerning UN Reform. (24/09/2019)
The second meeting of the Global Governance Commission Sub-Committee on UN Reform chaired by Professor Takahiro SHINYO was joined by three members of the Diet of Japan. They were Mr. Masaharu NAKAWAGA, former Minister of Education, Mr. Masahiko SHIBAYAMA, former Special Assistant to Prime Minister Shinzo ABE on UN peace operations and former Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and Mr. Akira SATO, Member of the House of Representatives and former Senior Vice Minister of Defense. The meeting was also participated by scholars and experts including Professor Yasuhiro UEKI of Sophia University who was a United Nations Spokesman and an international expert on UN reform matters, Dr, Vesselin POPOVSKI, Professor and Vice Dean, Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Haryana, India. (This summary report was filed by Fujiko Amano, Maja Liechti and Amishi Agrawal)
[Japan Commission on Global Governance] Three former diplomats engaged in disarmament, Nobuyasu Abe, Yoshiki Mine, Yasuyoshi Komizo and Mr. Takashi Genda, Retired Major General of Japan Air Self Defense Force pointed out that Japan urgently needs to play a leading role in preventing re-expansion of arms race (Reporter Yuki Watanabe) (18/09/2019)
In his opening remarks of the Global Governance Promotion Committee’s opinion exchange meeting held on September 18, 2019 at the Office Building of the Members of the House of Representatives, Mr. Masaharu Nakagawa, the Secretary-General of the World Federation of Japan’s Diet Committee and member of the House of Representatives, said he was looking for a proposal that could be pursued towards the realization of federalist ideals. He suggested the desire to further develop this Federation of Legislators as one of the mainstream options in Japan. For that purpose, he wished to harness the wisdom of top Japanese leaders and found the significance of holding consultation meetings. Climate change which is inducing the emergence of typhoons, crops damages with adverse impact on food security, changes in ocean currents, etc. must be assessed on a global scale, as well as disarmament and monetary policy that are today’s challenges He stressed the need to examine the respective issues from global perspectives. And disarmament which is the subject of today discussion, and monetary policy has to be considered for global implications. He expressed the view that the basics such as the current economic balance has collapsed. There are many urgent issues for humankind that the countries of the world must deal with in any way, but there is a sense of crisis regarding the politics running in the nationalistic direction in the countries of the world. The political parties that have advocated the middle of the road approach have lost in recent elections. In such a situation, he hoped that this Japan Commission of Global Governance would be successful so that information can be sent out from Japan with a view to the state of humankind in 20-30 years ahead. He said he would like to hear the opinions of the attendees reflecting not only their academic but also political perspectives.
After the “Geneva Dialogue” I visited my grandchildren Kenji and Alisa who welcomed me in fluent French. They have already mastered the language for their desire to learn and capacity to absorb it. While having little capacity left for absorbing a new language, I hope to keep my motivation to learn more. (06/09/2019)
Third Day Geneva Dialogue (04/09/2019)
East Asian Scholars and Practitioners exchanged their views with officials of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva Peacebuilding Platform and Future of UN Development System.
Geneva Dialogue II – Second Day Photo Album (03/09/2019)
East Asian Scholars and Practitioners visited World Intellectual Organization (WIPO), Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and World Trade Organization (WTO) and held dialogue with their senior officials.
Geneva Dialogue II – Photo Album: Day 1 of theSecond Geneva Dialogue of East Asian Scholars with Senior Officials of the United Nations and International Organizations (02/09/2019)
10:00 Opening Session Director-General H.E. Ms. Tatiana Valovaya, UN O…
Heads of Delegations from UN Associations of China, and ROK and host country Japan visit the Tea Ceremony Dojyo at the end of their two-day conference in Tokyo. (26/08/2019)
Grand Master Sen Zenshu held a demonstration tea ceremony and explained its significance including the basic philosophy of Sado based on its principle of four forms: “Wa, Kei, Sei, Jyaku”. He explained the philosophy developed by the founder of the way of tea, or chado, SEN no RIKYU (1522-91), who perfected the style of chanoyu based on the wabi aesthetic and elevated chanoyu into the way of tea aimed at purifying the atmosphere to harmonize the relationship between the host and guest.
UN Associations of Japan, China and Republic of Korea meet at Hotel Okura in Tokyo. (25/08/2019)
The event was hosted by President Genshitsu Sen, Urasenke Grand Master of Japanese Tea School, and participated by Vice President Yasushi AKASHI, Former UN Under-Secretary-General, Board Director Momoyo ISE, Executive Director for Academic Exchange Sukehiro Hasegawa, and Board Member and Vice President of Sophia University Miki SUGIMURA of UN Association of Japan. Also participated are Deputy Director-General Wang Ying and Program Officer You Bai Shun of UN Association of China; and Acting President and Ambassador Ho-Jin Lee, and three Vice Presidents of UN Association of the Republic of Korea, Former Ambassador to the Netherlands Jong-moo Choi, Vice, President of the Korea Institute for Maritime Strategy Seo-Hang Lee and Professor Heung-soon Park, Former President of the Korean Academic Council on the United Nations and Member of the Board of Academic Council on the UN System (ACUNS).
Visit of the Ikebe family to Tokyo (21/08/2019)
Head of Teheran Liaison Office of UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and his wife, Sora 空, and three children , Misora 美空, Meiwa 明空 and Eito 英飛、visited Japan and had lunch at IVY Place in Daikanyama, Shibuya. Hideo was one of SRSG Hasegawa`s assistant in Timor-Leste and has since served in South Sudan and Afghanistan.
JCK Youth Forum Preparatory Workshop held for 40 Participants from Japan (06/08/2019)
UN Association of Japan held Model UN sessions and preparatory lectures and discussions conducted by Vice President Yasushi Akashi, Professors Akio Takahara of University of Tokyo, Takaaki Mizuno of Kanda University, Miki Sugimura of Sophia University and Hiroko Akizuki of Asia University. Model UN sessions were organized by students from the Tokyo International University (Reported by Moe Hino).
Young activists from 28 countries call for Climate Democracy that includes UN people’s parliament and a court system for international environmental crimes. (26/07/2019)
Following the 9-day training and meetings organized by the Center for UN Constitutional Research (CUNCR) in Brussels on the 19th and 20th of July, young activists held the conferences from the 22nd to the 26th first in Corfu and then in Epirus where parliamentarians and academics joined young activists in adopting the “Declaration of Epirus.”
Foreign Minister Taro KONO joined the participants of a symposium on global solidarity levy and greeted reiterated his conviction that financial resources be generated by levying financial transactions for achievement of the SDGs (24/07/2019)
A symposium to discuss international solidarity levy was held at the international conference hall in the international conference hall of the First Building of the House of Representatives for which Mr. Matakana TAKEMOTA performed as the general master of ceremony. The symposium considered several measures to secure the necessary funds for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations for 2030. The opening remarks by Chair Seishiro ETO and Vice Chair Ichirou AISAWA was followed by a commemorative speech by Professor Emeritus Hiroshi Kaneko. GPAJ President Sukehiro HASEGAWA, Secretary-General Masakuni TANIMOTO and Auditor Ken INOUE participated in the symposium.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres announces UN Strategy and Action Plan against Hate Speech (18/07/2019)
UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the launch of the United Nations Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech, in New York today.
Japan Commission for Global Governance holds its first meeting on UN Reform (23/07/2019)
Keynote Lecture was delivered by Takahiro SHINYO, Professor of Kwansei Gakuin University and Former Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations in New York; Panel Discussants were Professor Kiyotaka KAWABATA of Fukuoka Women’s University and Ms. Chikako HIROSE, former director of the United Nations Center for Regional Development in Nagoya.
Ambassador to Timor-Leste Hiroshi MINAMI explains the local political situation at the 41st Meeting of the Global Peacebuilding Association of Japan (20/07/2019)
Former Ambassadors Iwao KITAHARA and Yoshitaka HANADA joined in the lively discussions. (Reported by Taketo Yamaguchi)
Summer Visit to Germany (12/07/2019)
From left to right, granddaughter Sofie, son in law Ralf, grandson Cedric, daughter Corinne, Anita and Sukehiro.
2019 Global Peace Ranking – Iceland is No.1, while Japan 9th and United States, 128th (11/07/2019)
According to the 2019 Global Peace Index provided by the Institute of Economics and Peace, Iceland is No.1, while Japan 9th and United States, 128th. IEP is headquartered in Sydney, with offices in New York, The Hague, Mexico City, Brussels and Harare. It provides a snapshot of the global state of peacefulness among 164 countries. For more information visit www.economicsandpeace.org