At the GPAJ Annual Conference held on 2 December 2017, three presentations were made by Ms. Ayano Matudo (Japan International Cooperation Agency: JICA), Prof. Miki Honda of Hosei University and Prof. Yasunobu Sato of the University of Tokyo and commented by Prof. Naoki Ishihara of Ritsumeikan University.
National Federation of UNESCO Association of Japan (NFUAJ) holds its first meeting of the Council in Tokyo (13/01/2018)
Professor Yuji Suzuki, Director-General of the Federation and Ms. Chiharu Kawakami, Director for Administration, presided over the meeting attended by more than 200 delegates from all over Japan. (Photo: ING進学教室)
In his address to the Security Council on December 20, 2017, António Guterres reiterated prevention and development must be at the center of all efforts to tackle complex threats to peace (05/01/2018)
Sixty Member States recognized the need to address complex contemporary challenges but differed on the priority among measures to achieve international peace and security.
Japan suggests the Security Council reform along with UN Reform proposals presented by Secretary-General António Guterres (20/12/2017)
Japanese Ambassador Koro Bessho urged that complex contemporary challenges to international peace and security should be dealt with in a holistic and methodological manner to better address the situation on the ground and presented four ideas which included reform of the UN Security Council.
President of International Crisis Group Jean-Marie Guéhenno shares his views on the changing nature of conflict in conversation with Sebastian von Einsiedel, Director of the UNU Centre for Policy Research. (14/12/2017)
Former Under-Secretary-General for UN Department for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guéhenno finds conflicts multilayers and “never dying” reflecting the erosion of international norms and a widening political divide.
Visit of UN Secretary-General António Guterres (14/12/2017)
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and spoke to students at Sophia University about the increasing relevance of the human security concept in dealing with vexing challenges particularly the nuclear threat, mass movement of people, climate change, and increased inequality.
Japan supports UN management reform proposed by Secretary-General António Guterres but insists on strict budgetary discipline (04/12/2017)
Japanese Ambassador Toshiya Hoshino suggested the need to create a consensus to build up a solid basis upon which the Secretary-General can bring forward detailed UN reform proposals in May 2018.
Takazawa of HPC explains a conceptual overlap of two similar but different concepts: the “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P) and the “Protection of Civilians” (POC). (02/12/2017)
Takazawa’s of the Hiroshima Peacebuilders Center found that, while many scholars had argued “R2P’s setback” after the Libya incident of 2011, their views mostly formed by a partial perspective focusing on “forcible measures” under “Pillar Three (timely and decisive response)” of the R2P.
Global Peacebuilding Association holds its first annual conference and discussed the changing role of UN peace operations in the morning session. (02/12/2017)
Former SRSG Yasushi Akashi recalled his determination to saw “the strong seeds of democracy, then let people of Cambodia grow it,” while Ambassador Yoshifumi Okamura pointed out the cases where the reality in the field of peacekeeping is not reflected in the considerations at the Security Council.
Global Peacebuilding Association Panel One discusses the changing UN peace operation policies (02/12/2017)
Higashi identified challenges caused by POC, Hisamura presented field perspective, Takazawa theorized the crossroads between Protection of Civilians (POC) mandates and R2P, and Tsuyada explained MOFA`s assistance in capacity building of peacekeeping personnel, while Miwa revealed the dilemma in mandate formulation and implementation.