ISSUE48: FEBRUARY-APRIL 2007
network of research and training centres/programmes
Global issues seminar series launched at UNU Centre
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The UNU Interactive Seminar on Global Issues held its inaugural session with Prof. Chiyuki Aoi of Aoyama Gakuin University (right) highlighting the importance of increased and improved accountability by all sides involved in UN peacekeeping missions.
Speaking to an audience of academics, government officials, NGO representatives and students at the UNU Centre in Tokyo, Prof. Aoi critically examined the negative and often ignored impacts of peacekeeping missions, including corruption, sexual abuse and exploitation, heightened incidences of HIV/AIDS and the development of false economies.
Following the lecture, Mr. Noriyuki Wakisaka, of the Asahi Shimbun editorial board, commented on development cooperation in peacekeeping operations before the participants engaged in a full discussion on peacekeeping’s unwanted side-effects.
The UNU Interactive Seminar on Global Issues is a timely and informative seminar series on global issues as they relate to Japan. Exploring topics from environmental sustainability to international peace and governance, the seminar series seeks to promote and provoke informed discussion among Japanese academics, civil society and the public at large on pressing global issues.
Seminar topics are drawn from recent or forthcoming books by UNU Press, the scholarly publishing arm of the UNU, with each seminar featuring a lecture by a distinguished scholar associated with the book, a critical commentary by a discussant, and an interactive open discussion between the participants and audience. To attract as wide a cross-section of Japanese society as possible, the programme is conducted entirely in Japanese.
© 2008 United Nations University