Mr. KANO Takehiro, Director-General of the International Peace Cooperation Headquarters, Cabinet Office of the Government of Japan, met with Professor HASEGAWA Sukehiro and discussed the current and future directions of Japan`s international peace cooperation activities.
The second session of the Tokyo Peacebuilding Forum 2022 was held to make a “Critical assessment of Japan’s policy on refugees and migrants”. Mr. Ken Inoue, Vice President of GPAJ, moderated the session, and Mr. Akio Nakayama, former Country Director, IOM Myanmar, and Ms. Khadiza Begum, Area coordinator of “Online learning support for Rohingya children in Tatebayashi City”. Please read more in detail.
In Phnom Penh, ASEAN admitted Timor-Leste today “in principle…
The Global Peacebuilding Association of Japan with the support of the ACUNS Tokyo Liaison Office and the Kyoto Peacebuilding Center will hold the Tokyo Peacebuilding Forum 2022 on 5 November 2022. Please click here and ascertain the final version of the program and the location of the JICA conference hall in Ichigaya, Tokyo.
Timorese government officials visited Former Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Timor-Leste Hasegawa and briefed him about the economic and social situation in the country. They stressed the need to develop alternative economy as the country cannot depend on the petroleum resources forever. Seen in this photo are from right Mr. Hernani Soares, General Director for Administration and Finance of the Ministry of High Education, Science and Culture, Commissioner Antonio Freitas of the Civil Service Commission and Agostinho Letencio de Deus, Director General of the National Institute of Public Administration (INAP). Reported by Masakuni Tanimoto Secretary-General of the Global Peacebuilding Association of Japan.
The Global Governance Promotion Committee (chaired by Sukehiro Hasegawa) and the United Nations Reform Subcommittee (chaired by Takahiro Shinyo), which is a subordinate body of the Diet Committee for World Federalist Movements (Chairman Seishiro Eto and Secretary General Masaharu Nakagawa), held an information exchange meeting on “United Nations Security Council Reform” at the House of Representatives members’ meeting room on 6 October 2022. It was attended by more than 15 parliamentarians and several participants from government and civil society organizations. From the GPAJ Association, in addition to President Hasegawa and Ambassador Takahiro Shinyo, Ambassador Tadamichi Yamamoto and Professor Takaaki Mizuno attended. Click here for details.(Reported by Tanimoto)
The Security Council reform process took its new turn as Japanese Prime Minister Fumiko Kishida urged on 20 September the starting of negotiation based on draft papers and US President supported on 21 September the idea of increasing the number of both permanent and non-permanent members in the reform Council. Please click here for their statements.
The International Day of Peace is observed in Tokyo on 21 September and the Peace Bell Ceremony was held at Meiji Jingu Shrine with the attendance of Governor Yuriko KOIKE of the Tokyo Metropolitan City who expressed her appreciation of the significance of holding it in Tokyo. Professor Sukehiro HASEGAWA, Chair of the Organizing Committee noted in his opening remarks that “achieving peace rests with the spirit of respecting and accommodating each other`s differences.”
Professor Takahiro SHINYO of Kwansei Gakuin University and Professor Toshiya HOSHINO of Osaka University, who have served as Japanese Ambassadors to the United Nations, participated in the panel discussions on United Nations Security Council Reform organized by the Turkish Embassy in Tokyo on September 8. Professor SHINYO proposed to create 6 to 8 semi-permanent members or longer-term non-permanent members with renewable terms of 4-8 years that allows for their re-election. Professor HOSHINO suggested that the resolution stipulating the expansion of the Security council members be submitted to the General Assembly by the end of 2023 for its adoption by September 2025 marking the 60th anniversary of the previous expansion of the non-permanent members of the Security Council in 1965. Please click here to view the details of the proposal for realistic reform of the UN Security Council.
Ambassador Zelayandia presented her views on the causes and implications of the civil war which started in El Salvador with the assassination of the archbishop Óscar Romero in March 1980. Please click here for details of their views.
Triangular partnerships are now part of the backbone of United Nations peacekeeping. This was Mr. Ito’s central message during his participation at a recent GPAJ seminar “Japan’s International Peace Cooperation: Past, Present, and Future.” His remarks focused on the growth and benefits of the UN Triangular Partnership Programme (TPP), as well as Japan’s contributions to peacekeeping operations through TPP.
The TPP, which brings together the UN Secretariat, Troop- and Police-Contributing Countries (T/PCCs), and Member States with needed expertise and resources, started out as an engineering training project in East Africa in 2015. Now, seven years later, it has evolved and expanded into a comprehensive training and capacity-building programme, diverse in its themes and regions of operation. This shift is largely due to the growing recognition that TPP is much more than “investments” in the potential deployment of T/PCCs. Rather, they are “enablers” that support T/PCCs to deploy better-trained units and maximize impact in missions.
Sukehiro Hasegawa, President of the Global Peacebuilding Association of Japan, received the Foreign Minister’s Commendation on August 10th. As a former Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (Timor-Leste), he was commended for his contribution to peacebuilding and political stability in the country, as well as his contribution to the academic development of peacebuilding and international cooperation. Congratulations to our association. (Takaaki MIZUNO, member of the Board of Directors, GPAJ)
Professor Hiroko AKIZUKI, member of the United Nations Commission on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) joined by Professors Misako TAKIZAWA, and Ai KIHARA-HUNT, discussed the current status and issues taken up by CEDAW, followed by a lively exchange of opinions with the participation of experts and scholars. Please click here for the gist of the remarks. (Organized by Akiko ABE)
Mr. Naoto Hisajima, Director-General, Secretariat of the International Peace Cooperation Headquarters, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan stated, that Japan marked the 30th anniversary of Japan’s involvement in international peace cooperation activities, looking back the past experiences and at the way ahead. The seminar was organized by Mr. Daiki Inoue and its report was compiled by Mr. Maciej Witek.
At the conference of the Future of the United Nations held at Jindal University in India 0n 20 February 2019, Mr. Sukehiro Hasegawa, President of the Global Peacebuilding Association of Japan suggested in response to Mr. Srimal Fernando`s question that small countries around India should work harder to strengthen the regional organization, SAARC, instead of just fearing India. Click here for the video recording.
In his interview with the Hokkaido Shinbun, Professor Takahiro SHINYO of Kwansei Gakuin University commented on the inability to deal with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and indicated his views on how to reform the United Nations Security Council. Please click here for the full text of his interview.
President Tadic started the presentation from his view on Kosovo. In his address as a president in 2008, at the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly, he warned that Kosovo is a crisis that threatens world peace. He underlined that Kosovo’s potential precedence represents a huge problem for international peace and stability. That addressing was in the context of seeking support for the Serbian resolution requesting an advisory opinion on Kosovo’s independence from the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
My grandson Kenji and his father Stephen are in this picture.
