INPS Group and its flagship agency IDN-InDepthNews Director-General and Ediror-in-Chief Ramesh Jaura, accompanied by INPS Multimedia Director Katsuhiro Asagiri, visited the headquarters of our partner Kazinform International News Agency in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, on October 12, 2018.They were warmly received by Director-General Dr. Askar Umarov, Mr. Uteshev Daniyar, First Deputy Director General, Mr Tokabayev Kanat, Advisor to Kazinform DG, and Ms. Togzhan Yessenbayeva. Following an exchange of information on the two media organizations, the INPS-IDN DG stressed in an interview with Mr Kanat (with Ms Yessenbayev serving as an interpreter) the importance of professional journalism in the face of social media increasingly taking the upper hand.
Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Yerzhan Ashikbayev explains the importance of the two-day Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions on October 10, 2018 in Astana – not only for Kazakhstan but also for the world at large.
The landmark Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions concluded with an appeal “to all people of faith and goodwill” to unite, and called for “ensuring peace and harmony on our planet”. The event was celebrated with a Peace Concert in which 500 choir singers from five continents of the world took part. A children’s choir consisting of little singers kicked off the concert with the songs, among others, by Sergey Rakhmaninov, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and Altynbek Korazbayev. The concert – organized by the Ministry of Culture and Sport of the Republic of Kazakhstan – gathered choir singers from India, Indonesia, Georgia, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, China, Bulgaria, Australia, USA, and South Africa among others.
In his remarks at the Plenary session of the two-day Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions on October 10, 2018 in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, Mr Hirotsugu Terasaki, Vice President of Soka Gakkai, explained Soka Gakkai's activities of faith communities in furthering the cause of a nuclear-weapons-free world and thus ensuring human security. Faith communities can provide a spiritual pillar or backbone for a shared sense of a common home and harmonious coexistence embracing all humanity. Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) can collaborate in generating and expanding such peaceful “public space” by transcending the differences of our respective faith traditions and promoting common universal values, Mr Terasaki added.
Mr. Nobuharu Imanishi, Director of Arms Control and Disarmament Division, MOFA delivering the message by Foreign Minister Taro Kono. Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri
Ms. Mitsuki Kudo of the Nagasaki Youth Delegation showed a five-minute introducing voices of ordinary young people in Nagasaki on their perception of nuclear weapons. Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri
INPS Japan
This article was produced as a part of the joint media project between The Non-profit International Press Syndicate Group and Soka Gakkai International in Consultative Status with ECOSOC.
Boutros Boutros Ghali at Naela Chohan’s art exhibition for the 2002 International Women’s Day at UNESCO in Paris./ By Naelachohanboutrosghali, Public Domain
Surrounded by family, former Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s widow Nane pays final respects to her late husband in Accra, Ghana on 13 September 2018. Credit: UN Photo/Ben Malor.
「仏教の教えとその実践者である僧侶達を有効に活用して、寺院や寺院経営の教育機関、大学などにおいてHIV/AIDS対策を実践しているタイの経験は、カンボジアにおいても大いに生かすことができる。カンボジアでは、仏教界も再建途上にあり僧侶、尼僧の大半が文盲で経験不足という状況にあるが、近い将来彼らに必要な知識と技術を訓練し、タイのように仏教界が率先してHIV/AIDSの予防とケアを実施し、カンボジア社会の進むべき正しい道を示していけるような体制を構築したい。」(H.H.Buo Kry, supreme patriarch of the Dhammayuth sect)
「宗教関係者、特に仏教の僧侶による支援は、草の根レベルにおけるHIV/AIDS対策を行う上で、大変効果的である。僧侶達は、忠義、誠実さといったポジティブなイメージを体現する存在であり、彼らがエイズ患者の救済に取り組む姿は、一般のカンボディア人のエイズ患者に対する偏見を払拭するのに大いに役立っている。」(Dr. Tia Phalla, NAA)
「以前は、HIV/AIDS患者が村ででると、その家族まで偏見の対象となったものだが、僧侶がHIV/AIDS感染の特性や安全に共存できること、そして差別ではなくコミュニティーで支えていくことの重要さを説いてまわった結果、HIV/AIDS感染者に対する村人の姿勢は変わってきている。」(Nhean Sakhen, Social Worker of Banteay Srei)
On 28 August 2018, members of the Group of Eminent Persons (GEM) and the CTBTO Youth Group (CYG) gathered in Kazakhstan’s capital city of Astana for a five-day conference aimed at reflecting on the role of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation in building global peace and finding ways to strengthen it in the future, specifically through raising the profile of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Katsuhiro Asagiri, Multimedia Director and President of INPS Japan captures the highlights of the conference including a trip to Kurchatova town in East Kazakhstan Region, once the center of operations for the adjoining Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site. FBポスト
共同声明は、カザフスタンの首都アスタナで、5日間に亘って開催されたCTBTO青年グループ(Youth for CTBTO)と賢人会議(GEM)による「2018年青年国際会議」(8月28日~9月2日)の場で採択され、すべての加盟国に対して「核爆発実験のモラトリアムを継続」し、「条約に署名・批准をしていない国は、速やかに署名・批准するよう」求めた。