ACUNS 2018 Annual Meetings starts in Rome (12/07/2018)
Professor Kihara-Hunt and her students and ACUNS Tokyo Office Event Staff Ms. Erika Frey join the participants from all over the world in the opening reception.
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Concert and Democracy at Village Level in Switzerland (08/07/2018)
In Switzerland, concerts are held in magnificent auditoriums but also outdoors for villagers to attend and hear. Here is one of the concerts just held in the town of Wadenswil I went yesterday. About 100 people came and, alas, most of them turned out to be more than 60 years old. It`s an aging society here just like Japan. But, Switzerland is accepting foreigners who now constitute more than 30 percent of the population.
UN Budget Committee endorses a reform of the UN which enacts a major cut in UN peacekeeping budget. (02/07/2018)
According to a report filed by Susan Manuel of PASSBLUE, China`s influence on the process of constructing the new structure of UN peace and security architecture in growing. Please click here her report.
IOM’s Special Council Session elects Portugal’s Antonio Vitorino over Trump nominee as new IOM Director General. (29/06/2018)
As IOM’s current Director General, William Lacy Swing, steps down after completing the second of two five-year terms, the Special Council`s decisive rejection of the American candidate, Ken Isaacs, in the first round of voting, signaled a growing number of nations are no longer prepared to indefinitely defer to the power of the United States when human rights and values are assaulted by the current US Administration.
Mediation and Diplomacy Workshop held in Cairo with the participation of Professor Sukehiro Hasegawa, former Special Representative of the Secretary-General (28/06/2018)
CCCPA, in collaboration with the German Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF) organized a three-day peer coaching training workshop on “Mediation and Diplomacy” from 26-28 June 2018. The workshop aimed to enhance Arab and African capacities, at the regional and continental levels in mediation through sharing experience and best practices.
German Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF) plays an active role in strengthening cooperation among African and Arab states in addressing the challenges in peace operations. (28/06/2018)
Senior Officials of African Union and League of Arab States attended the workshop and heard a Discourse by President of Global Peacebuilding Association of Japan (GPAJ) Professor S. Hasegawa who stressed the importance of recognizing that Egyptian Civilization preceded two millennium the Civilizations that started in Greece and China.
German Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF) and CCCPA hold Peer Coaching “Mediation and Diplomacy” Training Workshop. (26-28/06/2018)
Senior Officials of African Union and League of Arab States attended the workshop and heard a Discourse by President of Global Peacebuilding Association of Japan (GPAJ) Professor S. Hasegawa on “Philosophy of Peacebuilding: East and West.”
Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding holds its International Advisory Board meeting in Cairo. (26/06/2018)
At the IAB meeting chaired by Professor Hasegawa, CCCPA Director General Ashraf Swelam explained the expansion geographical area and nature of CCCPA activities include the Arab region and more contemporary issues such as preventing radicalization and extremism, combatting human trafficking and smuggling of migrants, integrated DDR and women, peace and security.
The International Advisory Board (IAB) of CCCPA (26/06/2018)
The CCCPA Advisory Board meeting held on 26 June was chaired by Professor Sukehiro Hasegawa, former Special Representative of the UN Secretary General to Timor-Leste, and attended by Ms. Mary Chinery-Hesse, former Deputy-Director General of the International Labor Organization, Ambassador Mona Omar, former Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Ambassador Aly Erfan, former advisor to the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States and Professor of Practice at the American University in Cairo.
Secretary-General António Guterres can lead the way out of the crisis faced by the United Nations human-rights system. (26/06/2018)
Click here for Rambcharan`s views and suggestions.
The United States Leaves the UN Human Rights Council. (19/06/2018)
Ambassador Nikki Haley announced that the United States is withdrawing from the U.N. Human Rights Council, calling it “an organization that is not worthy of its name.” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, appeared alongside Haley at the State Department.
Kick-off Meeting held for the 2nd GPAJ Annual Conference (13/06/2018)
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)
Ambassador Simona Leskovar explains Slovenia`s Accomplishments and Challenges to Japanese Scholars and Experts on Peace and Development (26/05/2018)
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.
The outcome of the national elections in Timor-Leste examined by GPAJ seminar participants (26/05/2018)
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)
Timorese voters give the Aliança de Mudança para o Progresso (AMP), a coalition of three parties, an absolute majority of 34 of the 65 seats in Parliament. (24/05/2018)
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.
Mona Ali Khalil: “The UN’s Cruz Report on Improving Peacekeepers’ Security Goes Too Far” (20/05/2018)
UN report on improving the security of all peacekeepers is viewed as pushing overwhelming and aggressive operations making the UN party to conflict and potentially undermining the security of both UN personnel and the civilians they are meant to protect. Here is her article.
East Asian Scholars and Practitioners` meeting with Heads of UN and International Organizations in Geneva (16-17/07/2018)
You can access (1) the latest provisional program from here and (2) the latest administrative and logistics information (as of 10/JUL/2018) from here. If you are interested in participating, please contact ACUNS Tokyo Deputy Director, Associate Professor Ai Kihara-Hunt. Her e-mail address is kiharahunt[*]yahoo.com (Please change [*] to @ when sending an email).
Ambassador Simona LESKOVAR of Slovenia and Counselor Nuno Alvares Moniz Marques ALVES of Timor-Leste will present challenges faced by their countries. (26/05/2018)
Slovenia became an independent country on June 25, 1991, and currently it is considered the most advanced among nation states born out of the former Yugoslavia but it still faces many challenges. Timor-Leste regained its sovereignty in 2005 and adopted its democratic form of governance but its democratic institutions remain fragile. The counselor will explain the outcome of May 12 national assembly elections.
António Guterres proposes a 50 percent increase in regular posts in the Peacebuilding Support Office at a Security Council`s High-level Briefing session on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace (25/04/2018)
António Guterres also calls for strong partnerships beyond the United Nations and a broad and inclusive approach with international financial institutions including the World Bank, and other multilateral donors, the business community, civil society and local actors.
Ms. Shoko Noda-Tackling Climate Change as a Representative of the UN System in the Maldives (22/04/2018)
Ms. Shoko Noda, UN Resident Coordinator and Resident Representative for UNDP in the Maldives has been featured on the “People” column of Asahi Newspaper. In the article, Ms. Noda talks about how she became interested to work for the UN as well as introducing her current work in the Maldives. You can read her article (in Japanese) here.