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国連大学グローバル・セミナーは、国連を取りまく地球規模の諸問題について、学生や若い社会人の方々の関心と理解を深めることを目的に全国７地域で開催しております。今年で第４回を迎える沖縄セッションでは「紛争から平和へ」をテーマにプログラムを構成しています。
ここ数十年間、紛争のあり方、そして国際社会が紛争解決・予防へどのように貢献すべきかについての期待も大きく変わってきました。つまり、近年の紛争は民族と文化を異にする集団が、特別な経済的・政治的状況のもとで引き起こす国内紛争がほとんどで、伝統的な国家間の武力行使によるものではありません。そして平和維持活動も伝統的な国境を挟んだ単なる休戦協定の監視から、紛争後の国家建設へと任務が多岐に渡るため、軍人のみならず、NGOなど民間人の参画がますます重要になってきています。このことは、平和は、ただ紛争を終結させるだけでは達成できず、紛争が終わってすぐに政治的、社会経済的にも安定した環境を構築することが不可欠であるとの経験と確信に基づいています。
今回のセミナーでは、紛争の再発を防止し、社会正義と人権とに基づく国家建設を支援するためには、国連が、国家が、そして市民社会がどのような役割を果たすことが期待されているのかについて内外の識者による講義を踏まえて、考えることを目指しています。第２次世界大戦中、最大の激戦地の一つとなり、「言語に絶する悲哀」を体験した沖縄で、歴史的展望をもって、紛争と平和との関係について内省する好機にしたいと考えています。
セミナーは４日間の合宿形式で進みますが、国連職員を含む内外の専門家を招き、グローバルな視点からの講義を中心に、受講生との議論・意見交換も行われます。他の地域におけるグローバル・セミナー同様、講義は英語もしくは日本語で行われますので両方の言語力が必要です。なお、基調講演については一般公開で、通訳がつきますので、多くの方々のご聴講を歓迎します。
また、受講生にとっては、著名な講演者やセミナー参加者との交流・討論を通して問題の分析力や議論の進め方を高める良い機会となります。沖縄県をはじめ全国における学生・社会人で国際問題に関心のある方、国際社会での活動を希望する方などからの積極的なご応募をお待ちしています。
The United Nations University (UNU) Global Seminars are aimed at deepening the understanding among students and young professionals in Japan of global problems that are the concern of the United Nations. Annual seminars are held at seven locations throughout Japan. The Okinawa session will be held for the fourth time in 2002 under the theme “From Conflict to Peace.”
As traditional inter-state warfare has increasingly been replaced by wars led by particular ethnic or cultural groups under specific economic and/or political conditions, the nature of disputes and the ways in which the international community is expected to contribute to the resolution and prevention of armed conflicts worldwide have changed greatly during the past couple of decades. Moreover, with the shifting focus of actions aimed at maintaining peace from merely securing ceasefire conventions between nations to taking on the responsibility to reconstruct war-struck countries after armed conflicts have been put to an end, the participation of civil society, including NGOs, besides military personnel, is becoming more and more significant. In other words, peace cannot be accomplished by simply bringing an end to a dispute. Quite on the contrary, peace can only be realized when it is based on the experience and certification of constructing a politically and socio-economically stable environment, which has proven to be an indispensable factor in the immediate aftermath of a war.
On the basis of discussions led by experts from Japan as well as abroad, this seminar aims to offer participants an opportunity to consider the roles of the United Nations, national governments and civil society to prevent the instigation of wars and to help build new nations that are based on social righteousness and human rights. Against the historical background of Okinawa as one of the greatest battlefields of the Second World War, which turned into an immense tragedy for humankind, it is our hope that this seminar may spur participants to reflect upon the relationship between war and peace from a historical viewpoint.
As participants to this seminar will lodge together for four days, they will be easily able to engage in discussions and active exchange with scholars and practitioners from Japan and abroad, including United Nations employees, who will provide lectures from a global perspective. As is the case with UNU Global Seminars held elsewhere in Japan, the lectures will be given in either English or Japanese. A profound understanding of both languages is therefore required. Interested members of the public are also cordially invited to attend the keynote speeches, during which simultaneous interpretation will be provided.
Aimed to serve as a forum for you to engage in an active exchange of ideas and debate sessions with distinguished scholars, the seminar will give you an excellent chance to deepen your knowledge and to sharpen your analytical and discourse skills. If you are interested in issues of global concern or plan to pursue an international career, you are most welcome to participate. We are eagerly awaiting applications from Okinawa Prefecture as well as other regions of Japan.
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