Since September 2018, the Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE) has been conducting a project to better understand the nature of current threats to the international order and democratic values and to examine Japan’s role in that context. As part of this initiative, we have been promoting dialogues among political leaders, CSO leaders, researchers, and media representatives in Japan and overseas. At the end of May, we convened an international conference on “The Role of the Next Generation for the Future of Democracy,” which was held online.
JCIE has conducted an online survey of the political perceptions and engagement of the younger generation (18 to 39 years old) in eight Asian countries (India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand). Discussions on the first day considered young people as future leaders, focusing on what democracy means to that next generation of leaders through comparisons of survey results on the state of political participation among Asia’s next generation and discussions with the young leaders themselves. Based on the discussions on the first day, discussions on the second day examined how to strengthen democratic governance and next-generation partnerships in the Asian region.
Agenda
Opening
AKIO OKAWARA, President, Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE/Japan)
Session 1: Political Participation in the Indo-Pacific Region: Outlook for the Next Generation
Moderator: RYO SAHASHI, Associate Professor, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo; Co-Director, JCIE Study Team on the Democracy for the Future
Survey Report: RYO TAINAKA, Program Officer, Japan Center for International Exchange
“Interests and Attitudes Toward Politics amongst Younger Generation in 8 Asian Countries”
Comments: TAKAKO HIKOTANI, Professor, International Centre, Gakushuin University; Member, JCIE Study Team on the Democracy for the Future
Session 2: Addressing the Concerns of Younger People: What Does Democracy Mean to Them？
Moderator: MAIKO ICHIHARA, Professor, Graduate School of Law, Hitotsubashi University; Co-Director, JCIE Study Team on Democracy for the Future
Panelists:
KAREL ANTONIO GALANG, Program Officer, Asian Democracy Network (ADN)
“The Voice of Asia’s Youth in Today’s Democracy Building”
NISHCHHAL KHARAL, Executive Director, Freedom Studio
SASCHA HANNIG NUÑEZ, Journalist and Independent Consultant; Associate Researcher Instituto de Desafíos para la Democracia
“YOUTH AND DEMOCRACY (TRENDS AND CHALLENGES)”
TAKATSUGU NIKI, Founder, Youth Democracy Promotion Agency; Adjunct Researcher, Waseda University Institute of Public Policy; Part-time Lecturer, Senshu University
Session 3: Proposal of the Sunnylands Initiative to Enhancing Democratic Partnership in the Indo Pacific
Moderator: YUKIO TAKASU, Chair, JCIE Study Team on Democracy for the Future; Former Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations
“Proposal of the Sunnylands Initiative to Enhancing Democratic partnership in the Indo Pacific region”
Panelists:
DHRUVA JAISHANKAR, Executive Director of the Observer Research Foundation (ORF America)
SOOK JONG LEE, Professor, Sungkyunkwan University; Senior Fellow, East Asia Institute
Session 4: The State of Civil Society Networks in Asia and What Comes Next
Moderator: KAORI SHOJI, Professor of Political Studies, Gakushuin University; Member, JCIE Study Team on the Democracy for the Future
Panelists:
ICHAL SUPRIADI, Secretary General, Asia Democracy Networw (ADN)
“The State of Civil Society Networks in Asian and What comes Next”
KHINE WIN, Executive Director, Sandhi Governance Institute
“Civil Society in Post-Coup Myanmar”
YUKO SHIBATA, General Manager, Emergency Response Division, Japan Platform
“The Role of Civil Society and the Next Generation for the Future of Democracy”
Closing Remarks
YUKIO TAKASU
AKIO OKAWARA
