ISDP Forum: Japan’s Human Security Policy – the Concept at 25

2019 marks the 25th anniversary of the term “Human Security” to first appear in a United Nations Development Program report. It has since become one of Japan’s signature policies at the UN, with the UN Human Security Trust Fund established in 1999 among the major achievements. Confronted with an intensifying demographic challenge and natural disasters, the stakes for Japan with regard to human security and sustainable development are high. To face these challenges, there is a need to focus efforts not only on the global level, but also domestically.

In this ISDP Forum, Professor Akiko Yamanaka, former Parliamentary Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan and now Special Advisor to the President of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), President of the International Tsunami Disaster Prevention Society, as well as Special Advisor to the ISDP Stockholm Japan Center, will give a presentation on Japan’s human security policy. After her presentation, Prof. Yamanaka will be joined on stage in a panel discussion with Ambassador Per Enarsson, Head of the Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs Department at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and Dr. Lars Vargö, Head of the ISDP Stockholm Japan Center, who will moderate the forum.