Welcome to the inaugural issue of the SPF English Newsletter, your newest source for English information about news, events, and research from the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF).
 

SPF's programs confront the increasingly complex issues facing the international community in the 21st century. The content of this monthly newsletter will reflect the broad scope of the foundation's work, featuring a selection of articles and announcements covering the research and projects by SPF's experts across the foundation's nine program departments.

1. Migrant labor and human rights: building connections between civil society in Japan and Southeast Asia
2. Expert seminar analyzing the U.S.-China trade war and the Chinese economy
3. Advancing gender equality and women's entrepreneurship together: SPF signs a memorandum of understanding
    with the International Labour Organization in Myanmar
4. Expert seminar addressing China's Belt and Road Strategy: perspectives from the United States, Japan,
    and Southeast Asia
5. English Edition of the "Ocean White Paper 2018"
6. SPF Now Interview with Dr. Ceren Lord on the influence of sectarianism in Turkey and the Alevi community
7. Upcoming event information

1.Migrant labor and human rights: building connections between civil society in Japan and Southeast Asia

SPF's Asia Social Integration Department recently invited three migration and human rights experts from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam to meet with Japanese civil society stakeholders in order to build networks and bring the voices of migrant workers to an international audience.

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2. Expert seminar analyzing the U.S.-China trade war and the Chinese economy

Economic competition between the U.S. and China took center stage at an expert seminar sponsored by SPF's Japan–China Cooperation Department. Discussion topics included recent tensions between the U.S. and China, the lessons learned from Japan’s economic development and stagnation, and future prospects for the Chinese economy.

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3. Advancing gender equality and women's entrepreneurship together: SPF signs a memorandum
    of understanding with the International Labour Organization in Myanmar

SPF and the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Myanmar reached an agreement to strengthen their partnership to promote gender equality and women's entrepreneurship. Read on to learn more about SPF's current research into the environment for female entrepreneurs in Myanmar and plans for future outreach.

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4. Expert seminar addressing China's Belt and Road Strategy: perspectives from the United States, Japan,
    and Southeast Asia

China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has become a closely watched aspect of China's foreign policy. To consider how Japan and the U.S. can contend with BRI while understanding the perspective of countries in the region, particularly Southeast Asia, SPF's Japan-U.S. Program Department sponsored an expert seminar on the topic in cooperation with the Center for a New American Security (CNAS).

Event article>>
SPF Now interview>>

5. English Edition of the "Ocean White Paper 2018"

SPF's Ocean Policy Research Institute (OPRI) published the first-ever English edition of their Ocean White Paper series, which has been produced in Japanese annually since 2004. Read on to access a digital edition of the report and learn more about OPRI's work in the context of Japan's domestic ocean policy and global efforts to implement the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

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6. SPF Now Interview with Dr. Ceren Lord on the influence of sectarianism in Turkey and the Alevi community

Dr. Ceren Lord, an SPF Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, spoke with SPF Now to take a deep look at the dynamics of sectarianism in Turkey in the context of the rise of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

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7. Upcoming event information

Register now for "Fostering Innovation and Developing Partnership for Blue Economy," an international symposium (Feb. 19 in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi) organized by SPF's Ocean Policy Research Institute, the East-West Center, and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

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