International student councils, where students from 30 countries from around the world and Japanese students conduct international exchanges and discussions, discussed the issues faced by the world in the week from August 25 while travelling around together in various parts of Japan. On the final day of September 2, we announced the results of our discussions and asked the president of the International Peacebuilding Association of Japan and former UN Secretary General and asked the chairman of the Japan International Peacebuilding Association to evaluate our presentations. (Masaaki Mabuchi, Emily Okabe)

　The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Nippon Foundation co-hosted the Core Group Meeting of the Eminent Persons Group on Peace and Stability in Africa on 31st August and 1st September. Five former Heads of State were invited to the Meeting with the aim of suggesting proposals in the field of peace, security and stability in Africa. (MOFA Press Release)

　Japanese, Chinese and Korean students who were participating in the JCK Youth Forum in Paju Book City took a day tour to visit the observation site and the Dorasan Railroad Station.

　JCK Youth Forum participants adopted two resolutions on human rights and international terrorism and held extensive discussions on gender equality and climate change.

　Erick Johnson of the Japan Times writes former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who died earlier this month, was remembered by former Japanese diplomats and U.N. experts as a strong supporter of Security Council reform plans that could have given Japan a permanent seat.

　According to the Kofi Annan Foundation, Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Laureate, passed away peacefully after a short illness, in hospital in Bern, Switzerland in the early hours of August 18 with his wife and children at his side.

　The General Assembly approved on August 10 the appointment of Michelle Bachelet as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights effective September 2018. Bachelet is a prominent women’s rights advocate who served as the first woman president in Chile and is expected to assert her leadership in advancing human rights in the world with rising racial tension and authoritarian rule.

　This is the report of the Preparatory Workshop for the 2018 JCK Youth Forum Japanese Participants on August 5-7 at the Olympic Memorial Youth Center in Tokyo.

　At a press conference held at UN Headquarters on July 20, US Secretary of State Pompeo stated Presidents Trump and Putin discussed how to return Syrian refugees who had fled the war-torn country during their behind closed doors meeting in Helsinki on July 16, 2018.

　From right to left on front row; Ms. Erika FREY, University of Teachers Education Zug; Ms. Reina MOTEGI of the University of Tokyo; Professor Misako TAKIZAWA of Oberlin University; Dr. Ai KIHARA-HUNT, Associate Professor, Graduate Program on Human Security, the University of Tokyo, Deputy Director, Research Center for Sustainable Peace, and Deputy Director, ACUNS Tokyo Office; Ryotaro Takehara of the University of Tokyo.


　Second row from left to right: Colonel Amarsaikhan SERDARI, Chief of Special Plans Office of the Mongolian Armed Forces; Professor Takaaki MIZUNO of the Kanda University of International Studies (KUIS); Yasushi KATSUMA, Professor of Waseda University; Ms. Suzuka YAMADA of the University of Tokyo; Ms. Mizuki ARITA of the University of Tokyo; Ms. Moeka TAWADA of the University of Tokyo; Prof. SHENG Hongsheng of Shanghai University of Political Science and Law; Mr. Takashi KAMISHIRO, Head of Field Office Miravalle, UN Verification Mission in Colombia; Professor ZHANG Guihong, Director of the Center for UN Studies, Fudan University and Vice President & Secretary-General, Shanghai UN Research Association.


　Third row from left to right: Professor Aygul KULNAZAROVA of Tama University; Ms. Kana YOKOYAMA of the University of Tokyo; Ms. Maja LIECHTI of the University of Tokyo; Mr. Yuki SAITO of the University of Tokyo; Mr. Eisuke KIMURA of the University of Tokyo; and Mr. Simon PANCHAUD of the University of Geneva.

　This former Chamber of the Council of the League of Nations is now used by the UN Disarmament Commission which was first created in 1952 but met rarely until 1978 when the first special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament established a successor Disarmament Commission as a subsidiary deliberative body of the Assembly, composed of all Member States of the United Nations.

　Thirty-two scholars and students from Japan, China, Korea and Mongolia started their two- day dialogue with senior officials of UNOG, UNHCR, IOM, ICRC, UNHCHR and Geneva Graduate Institute on the theme of Human Rights, Migration and Peacebuilding in a Turbulent Age.

　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.

　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.

　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.

　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.

　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.

　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.

　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.”

　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.