In his presentation to Japanese staff at UN Headquarters, Mr. Hasegaw…
At an Interactive Forum Highlighting Japanese Initiatives Promoting the Sustainable Development Goals held at the United Nations Headquarters on June 6, Global Peacebuilding Association President Sukehiro Hasegawa explained the critically important roles played by co-chairs of the High Level Panel on the Sustainable Development Goals namely Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of Indonesia, and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia, as well as Emilia Pires, Timor-Leste’s Minister of Finance, who instilled the spirit of self-reliance in developing their own countries.
Mr. Takashi Genda, Commissioned Officer Ret/Major General JASDF、Regional Director of Reven International, Professor Yuji Uesugi of Waseda University, Professor Mayumi Yamada, Ritsumeikan University and Ms. Yuko Sakurai, Former Deputy Director of the Economic Treaty Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and Member Fukuya Total Law Offices participated in the Conference along with Mr. Sukehiro Hasegawa, President of the Global Peacebuilding Association of Japan, Director of the Academic Council on the UN System (ACUNS) Tokyo Liaison Office, and the Executive Director for Academic Exchange of the United Nations Association of Japan. Mr. Takakazu Ito, Senior Programme Officer of the Department of Operational Support represented the United Nations at the conference.
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.
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.
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.
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”.
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.
At an exhibition on “The Chinese Army to Protect the World Peace” held in New York, Under-Secretary-General for Operational Support, Atul Khare, commended China for currently deploying a total of 2,508 uniformed personnel, including 70 women, to 8 of the UN’s current peacekeeping missions, including UNMISS, UNIFIL, and MINUSMA. Khare also noted China has contributed approximately 5.8 million dollars to UN Peacekeeping through the Peace and Security Trust Fund since 2017.
The present conflict is merely the symptom of a more fundamental schism in South Sudanese society. Traditional tribal rivalries and competition for resources is at the heart of the problem.