The Japanese Parliamentary Commission for World Federation (JPCWF), composed of bipartisan members of the Japanese Diet, was held on May 15, 2019 in the Conference Room of the House of Councilors. Mr. Seishirō ETO, the chairman of the Parliamentary Commission, gave opening remarks and briefings for the General Assembly, and Ms. Kuniko INOGUCHI, the standing member of the Parliamentary Commission, acted as a moderator. Major political parties were represented by senior members who included Mr. Bunmei IBUKI of the Liberal Democratic Party and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Tetsuro FUKUYAMA, Secretary-General of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Mr. Yuichiro TAMAKI, the Leader of the Democratic Party for the People (DPFP), Mr. Masahiko INOUE, Vice President of the Komeito, Mr. Akira SAKAI, Japanese Communist Party Policy Chairman, and Ms. Mizuho FUKUSHIMA, Social Democratic Party Policy Chairperson. Mr. Masahiko SHIBAYAMA, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology provided his comments. The Japan Commission on Global Governance (JCG) was then established, and former United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative Sukehiro Hasegawa was appointed its chairman.
ARF Workshop on Conflict Prevent and Early Warning held in Dili, Timor-Leste (24-26/04/2019)
More than 100 government and civil society representatives of ASEAN Regional Forum countries assembled in Dili, the capital city of Timor-Leste, and shared their experiences and know-hows on conflict prevention and early warning. The participants included three members of the Global Peacebuilding Association of Japan: Sukehiro Hasegawa, Ken Inoue and Naoko Kugamai as well as Professor Uesugi of Waseda University.
ASEAN Regional Forum on Preventive Diplomacy and Early Warning held in Dili, Timor-Leste from 24 to 26 May 2019 (24/04/2019)
Mr. Ken Inoue and Professor Naoko Kumagai of GPAJ along its president, Sukehiro Hasegawa, participated in the Forum workshop which was opened by former President Jose Ramos-Horta.
Former President José Ramos-Horta delivers a Keynote Address at the ASEAN Regional Forum Workshop on Preventive Diplomacy and Early Warning in Dili, Timor-Leste. (24/04/2019)
In his keynote speech, Ramos-Horta pays tribute to Timorese Leader Xanana Gusmão and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for having averted the clash of national interest by following their own conscience and doing the right thing to settle the maritime boundary disputes. Ramos-Horta also shows compliments Indonesia and India for holding free, fair and credible elections. Click here for his speech.
“Is Peacebuilding Dead? What Next?” (19/04/2019)
Achim Wennmann, Researcher at the Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding (CCDP) at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva and Executive Coordinator of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform made a presentation on the future of peacebuilding at the JICA, Global Plaza on Friday the 19th of April, followed by a lively discussion amongst the participants.
Mr. Achim Wennmann and his family (19/04/2019)
Mr. Wennmann and his family joined in a photo session the end of his presentation and discussion organized by the Global Peacebuilding Association of Japan (GPAJ)
Visit to the European Union headquarters in Brussels on April 11 revealed a Birth of Omnilateralism proposed by a former member of the European Union Commission. (11/04/2019)
German Wolfgang Pape, a former member of the European Union Commission who once worked in Japan as a staff member of the European Union Commission, advocates building of a global governance structure that shares the global culture and values. By advancing omnilateralism, we can first open up the current still mainly western-inspired system of global governance to cultures and good practices of non-Western origin. Secondly, the multilateral system based primarily state actors needs to open up itself to non-state actors. This new system should embrace civil society and encompass other influential trans-border non-state actors such as the on-line giants of GAFAM (Google、Amazon、Facebook、Apple、Microsoft).
UN Volunteer Atsuhito NAKATA – “When there is something in the world that somebody has to do, I want to be the person who will do it.” (08/04/2019)
Today is the day UN United Volunteer Atsuhito Nakata and his colleague Lek Sophiep were killed on April 8, 1993. They were working together to build peace and democracy in Cambodia. In a world where nationalism is pervasive, we should reaffirm our understanding that humanity as a whole should achieve and sustain peace and democracy.
Former UN Official Bill Jackson pays Tribute to Late UNV Honorary Ambassador Takehito Nakata who followed his son, UNV Atsuhito Nakata, in pursuing the journey of “a global citizen.” (08/04/2019)
Mr. Bill Jackson, who was Director of External Relations, stated on the anniversary of the death of UNV Atsuhito Nakata that UNV as a whole were very grateful for Mr. Takehito Nakata`s philosophical acceptance of his son’s death, and his willingness to take up the new role of following his son’s work, whereas one could have expected a more hostile reaction from parents.
Summary record of the seminar held on “Triple Nexus：Nexus among Humanitarian, Development and Peace” and “Sustaining Peace” (30/03/2019)
Koji Sakane, JICA Senior Director for Peacebuilding and Reconstruction made a presentation on current progress and challenges on “Triple Nexus”, which is the conceptual framework of connecting “Peace” with traditional “Humanitarian and Development Nexus”, and challenges for achieving “Sustaining Peace”.
Blue Economy: The new frontier for Africa’s growth – An interview with Siddharth Chatterjee UN Resident Coordinator to Kenya (28/03/2019)
Siddharth Chatterjee suggests the blue economy can offer a range of African solutions to African economic problems. He says Africa can learn and benefit from Japan as Japan is essentially a Blue economy.
Malala at World Assembly for Women (WAW!) and W20 Tokyo Women Conference (23/03/2019)
Visiting Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai called upon Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other world leaders to promote more the empowerment of women through education and financial support.
Sakiko Fukuda-Parr speaks about the danger of relying too much on data for assessing the efficacy of the Sustainable Development Goals. (20/03/2019)
In the Special Issue of Global Policy, 2019. Knowledge and Politics in Setting and Measuring SDGs. Professor Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, Professor and Director at the Studley Programs in International Affairs at The New School in New York, and Desmond McNeill of the University of Oslo point out the working of knowledge and politics in setting and measuring the SDGs and danger for too much reliance on indicators that can distort social norms, frame hegemonic discourses, and reinforce power hierarchies. 14 articles and 10 commentaries in the special issue is freely accessible by the following website: https://www.globalpolicyjournal.com/journal-issue/special-issue-knowledge-and-politics-setting-and-measuring-sdgs
The World Happiness Ranking never reflects Japan’s such a low status in happiness. (21/03/2019)
NHK reported that Finland maintained its top position for the second consecutive year in the 2019 edition of the World Happiness Ranking and that Japan was downgraded 4 ranks to 58th. “Happiness” reflects a subjective feeling of people, and it does not reflect Japan’s such a low status in happiness. Japan should question the intention of the producer of the indicator. It is inappropriate use of indicators or the theme. The indicator “development” seems more appropriate than “happiness” of a nation.
Setsuko Yamazaki, former UNDP Country Director in Vietnam and Cambodia, proposes paradigm shifts to advisory services in Japan’s development cooperation with Asian countries for realization of the Sustainable Development Goals through SDG 16. (15/03/2019)
Yamazaki suggests three shifts in the Japanese co-operation approach: (1) provision of advisory policy services to meet emerging needs of middle income countries (MICs); (2) an integrated approach to new MICs which are still Least Developed Countries (LDCs), recognizing that their development gains are still fragile and vulnerable to shocks; and (3) sharing of Japanese experience with countries still in the “demographic bonus” period to prepare for a future graying population, all with an aim to institutionalizing their social policy, laws and practices.
Call for the creation of a UN parliamentary assembly (06/03/2019)
An international group of MPs calls for a body to strengthen the democratic representation of the world’s citizens in global affairs and the UN’s decision-making, reports The Guardian, 6 March 2019.
Journalist Judi Rever makes a Presentation: “In Praise of Blood: Crimes by the Rwandan Patriotic Front’’ (28/02/2019)
On the 28 February 2019 Canadian Journalist Judi Rever made a presentation of her book suggesting that systematic killings of Hutus had been carried out by the Rwandan Patriotic Front during and after what is known to the international community as the Rwandan Genocide in 1994. Her claims provoked a vivid debate among the participants of the round table.
The Future of the United Nations discussed by former Senior UN Officials, Diplomats and Scholars at Jindal Global University in New Delhi (20/02/2019)
At the conference held on “the Future of the United Nations” at JGU, GPAJ President Hasegawa made a keynote speech on the implications of the Meiji Restoration for the future of the United Nations.
JCK Youth Forum organized by the United Nations Association of Japan and participated by Japanese, Chinese and Korean college students will be held at Sophia University in late August. (16/02/2019)
At the courtesy of Ms. Kim, several students of the secretariat are preparing to conduct a simulation conference of the Universal Periodic Review of the UN Human Rights Council. Seen in the photo are from the right: Yuki Nakai, Shion, Kusumi Saei, and Yamane Miko. Also shown is Nakano Shinsuke in computer screen participating in the preparatory meeting from Okinawa.Also participated are Maejima Daiki and Hino Moe.