Interview with Akiko Horiba
(SPF Program Officer)

A: I feel that, within the Middle Eastern society, Tunisia is a country that Japan can truly collaborate and work with for building peace. While Tunisia is a small country, it shares the principle of democracy with Japan, and guarantees women's rights in its Constitution. While the Middle East continues to be in turmoil, Tunisia is firmly upholding its democratic principle and systems. Once its economy picks up, the country has the potential to become a leader of the Arab world.

Tunisia also boasts a high level of education, and has many appeals to Japanese people, including its rich historical heritages and cultures, including culinary culture.

Q: Can you explain the reason and significance of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation's decision to invite representatives of the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet?

A: The Sasakawa Peace Foundation's International Program Department has engaged in peace-building projects on a full scale since 2010. Throughout these efforts, we have always wondered what Japan could do to resolve the on-going conflict in southern Thailand. With firm emphasis on increasing people who seek non-violent solutions, we have supported grass-roots youth campaigns and journalists. 'Dialogue' is a non-violent means of solving today's issues. Dialogue allows you to understand others and communicate your own stance. Compromise plays an important part. Establishing understanding toward this process from the level of small communities is essential in building peace. The 'power of dialogue' is the theme of this seminar. We want the representatives of the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet to explain how 'dialogue' led to success. At the same time, the seminar will highlight the important roles civil societies played in bringing democracy to Tunisia. All the four members of the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet are civil organizations. In view of the roles of civil societies, there is a particular significance in the fact that these non-political groups led the way for building political consensus. In this sense, we have paid close attention to the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet for a long time with a view to eventually extend an invitation to Japan. In March this year, during my business trip to Tunisia, I had the opportunity to meet their representatives and ask them to come to Japan.


During their visit, we want to communicate information about the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet to as many Japanese people as possible, providing them with an opportunity to think about what roles Japan could play. What could our nation do in the field of peace-building? One answer would be for Japan to serve as an intermediary to facilitate 'dialogues.' I am certain that the seminar by the people of the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet will inspire various thoughts about Japan's future roles.
 

Q: What do you think about the growing misunderstanding about the religion of Islam amidst the threat of terrorism?

A: All the members of the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet are Muslims. In Japan, the threat of IS and other extremists has highlighted the image of fighting and violence as that of the Arab countries. Yet, those involved in terrorism is only a small minority of the world's 1.5-billion Muslim population. The Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet's peaceful dialog-based process is polar opposite to the approach of IS and other extremists. We want to present people of Muslim faith in a positive light to deepen Japanese people's understanding.

See here for details about the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet.