Author: ACUNS Tokyo Liaison Office

Mr. Masakuni TANIMOTO opened the Tokyo Peacebuilding Forum 2019. He then asked the participants to join him in paying tribute to Madame Sadako OGATA who had passed away. He then showed two video messages received from Nobel Peace Prize Winner President Jose Ramos-Horta and Mr. Domenec DeVessa of Spain, member of the European Parliament.

In the Thematic Session 3, under the chairmanship of Ambassador Takahiro SHINYO, Dr. Shahr-Yar Mahmoud Sharei, Executive Director of the Center for UN Constitutional Research (CUNCR) will discuss the San Francisco Promise and Article 109 for the UN Charter view, while Professor Zhang Guihong, Director of Center for UN Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai will call for replacement of the Trusteeship Council by the Human Rights Council and Professor Vesselin Popovski of Jindal University in India will propose upgrading of the Peacebuilding Commission.

In his video message to the Tokyo Peacebuilding Forum, Former President and Nobel Prize Laureate José Ramos-Horta will review the global political and security situation. German Ambassador Ina LEPEL and French Ambassador Laurent PIC will present their perspectives on the prospect for peacebuilding and global governance in this turbulent world. After the keynote speeches, former UN Under-Secretary-General Yasushi AKASHI and former Japanese Ambassador to the United Nations Takahiro SHINYO will provide their views. In the afternoon, the participants of the Forum from not only Japan but other countries will discuss several issues of relevance to peacebuilding and global governance. Please see here the full program.

The 1996 Nobel Prize Laureate and Former President of Timor-Leste José Ramos-Horta expresses his concern that the United Nations is sidelined and unable to mobilize international good will and discharge its responsibilities in addressing humanitarian and security crises taking place in Africa, Asia and the Middles East. The solutions to these challenges, he suggests, can be found only when the major powers get together and build bridges among them and enhance their mutual understanding and consensus in order to address the global challenges the humanity is facing.

The second meeting of the Global Governance Commission Sub-Committee on UN Reform chaired by Professor Takahiro SHINYO was joined by three members of the Diet of Japan. They were Mr. Masaharu NAKAWAGA, former Minister of Education, Mr. Masahiko SHIBAYAMA, former Special Assistant to Prime Minister Shinzo ABE on UN peace operations and former Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and Mr. Akira SATO, Member of the House of Representatives and former Senior Vice Minister of Defense. The meeting was also participated by scholars and experts including Professor Yasuhiro UEKI of Sophia University who was a United Nations Spokesman and an international expert on UN reform matters, Dr, Vesselin POPOVSKI, Professor and Vice Dean, Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Haryana, India. (This summary report was filed by Fujiko Amano, Maja Liechti and Amishi Agrawal)

In his opening remarks of the Global Governance Promotion Committee’s opinion exchange meeting held on September 18, 2019 at the Office Building of the Members of the House of Representatives, Mr. Masaharu Nakagawa, the Secretary-General of the World Federation of Japan’s Diet Committee and member of the House of Representatives, said he was looking for a proposal that could be pursued towards the realization of federalist ideals. He suggested the desire to further develop this Federation of Legislators as one of the mainstream options in Japan. For that purpose, he wished to harness the wisdom of top Japanese leaders and found the significance of holding consultation meetings. Climate change which is inducing the emergence of typhoons, crops damages with adverse impact on food security, changes in ocean currents, etc. must be assessed on a global scale, as well as disarmament and monetary policy that are today’s challenges He stressed the need to examine the respective issues from global perspectives. And disarmament which is the subject of today discussion, and monetary policy has to be considered for global implications. He expressed the view that the basics such as the current economic balance has collapsed. There are many urgent issues for humankind that the countries of the world must deal with in any way, but there is a sense of crisis regarding the politics running in the nationalistic direction in the countries of the world. The political parties that have advocated the middle of the road approach have lost in recent elections. In such a situation, he hoped that this Japan Commission of Global Governance would be successful so that information can be sent out from Japan with a view to the state of humankind in 20-30 years ahead. He said he would like to hear the opinions of the attendees reflecting not only their academic but also political perspectives.

East Asian Scholars and Practitioners exchanged their views with officials of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva Peacebuilding Platform and Future of UN Development System.

East Asian Scholars and Practitioners visited World Intellectual Organization (WIPO), Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and World Trade Organization (WTO) and held dialogue with their senior officials.