For the people of Myanmar, the crisis continues to be amplified by the pandemic. Recent UN interventions have proven ineffective, and negotiations by both ASEAN and Japan have yet to produce any results. In the dilemma of freedom from fear and want, what realistic approach can be taken to restore human security in Myanmar and protect the lives of its people? What reforms might be promoted to safeguard Myanmar’s democratic process? What is the role and responsibility of Japan? How can non-governmental actors, including academia, protect and empower the people of Myanmar, whose human security is now under threat from violence, poverty, fear, and COVID-19? Efforts to protect human security in Myanmar must be undertaken to secure the dignity and safety of the people in Myanmar.

For our 2021 academic Spring Symposium, we invite keynote speaker Ms. Zin Mar Aung, appointed Foreign Minister of the National Unity Government (NUG) by the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw of elected parliamentarians at Myanmar’s national elections in November 2020, to share insights on NUG’s approaches and strategies to overcome the situation. A panel discussion is to follow on the roles of academia in Japan, non-governmental actors, and second track collaborations in Asia to address Myanmar’s human security crisis.

1st session
Keynote Speech：
Foreign Minister Zin Mar Aung（Foreign Minister, National Unity Government of Myanmar）
Q&A: Dr. Ai Kihara-Hunt（Associate Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; Director of Research Center for Sustainable Peace, The University of Tokyo）

2nd session
Panel discussion：
Moderator: Dr. Yasunobu Sato（Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Deputy Director of Research Center for Sustainable Peace, The University of Tokyo）

11:50-12:00
Prof. Kei Nemoto（Professor, Faculty of Global Studies, Sophia University）

12:00-12:10
Dr. Maiko Ichihara（Associate Professor, Graduate School of Law, Hitotsubashi University, Visiting Scholar, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace）

12:10-12:20
Dr. Evan A. Laksmana（Senior Researcher, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Indonesia）

12:20-12:30
Mr. Romain Caillaud（Principal, Strategic Intelligence Public Affairs (SIPA) Partners, Associate Fellow, the Myanmar Studies Programme at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute）

12:30-12:50
Q&A: Dr. Ai Kihara-Hunt（Associate Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; Director of Research Center for Sustainable Peace, The University of Tokyo）

12:50-13:00
Closing Remarks
Prof. Moriyuki Hoshino (Director, Graduate Program on Human Security, The University of Tokyo);
Dr. Yasunobu Sato (Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Deputy Director of Research Center for Sustainable Peace, The University of Tokyo)

In 2020, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN-OHCHR), in search for real examples in the field that can guide stakeholders can learn lessons from, started to collect best practice initiatives where non-state actors have filled the gap effectively. In particular, examples were sought where actors made effective interventions to protect economic, social and cultural rights of vulnerable and marginalized groups – which include existing groups and newly marginalized ones. These examples have been collected in the Crowdsourcing Database. Examples collected are those that either i) protect vulnerable groups that would have been left behind otherwise; ii) protect (a) human right(s) that were not addressed sufficiently; and/or iii) take innovative approach in addressing (an) affected human right(s).　The University of Tokyo’s International Law Training and Research Hub (UOTIL Hub) has partnered with the UN-OHCHR, and worked on the collection of best practices in Asia, and submitted a brief report to the UN-OHCHR on the analyses of collected examples from Asia, for its use at the Human Rights Council’s 46th session.

In the process of collecting best practice examples, the UOTIL Hub team was highly impressed by various creative, innovative approaches that have been taken by a wide range of actors. In following up on ten of the selected cases to learn more details about them, UOTIL Hub team felt that mere collection of best practices as data would not suffice to deliver human stories of those who have been fighting to provide much needed protection in the field.

This seminar aims to convey some of the real human stories from the Hub’s collection of practices, as well as the Hub team’s summary findings. This seminar aims to exhibit how non-state stakeholders came up with novel ways to lessen the health, economic, and social burdens of this unprecedented pandemic on the most vulnerable groups in society. It hopes to enrich debates on the value of using a human rights perspective in formulating frameworks for emergency response.

17:00-17:10 Opening remarks by Ms. Lauren Suzanne Power
Introduction and framing by Prof. Yasunobu Sato
17:10-17:40 Keynote speech by Mr. Gerard Sanders
17:40-18:10 Panel discussion joined by Mr. Arthur M. Mitchell and
Prof. Toshiro Nishizawa; and moderated by Prof. Yasunobu Sato
18:10-18:25 Q&A
18:25-18:30 Concluding remarks by Prof. Yasunobu Sato

Discussion
Mr. Arthur M. Mitchell, Senior Advisor, White & Case and former General Counsel, Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Prof. Toshiro Nishizawa, Graduate School of Public Policy (GraSPP), University of Tokyo

Session 2:
Gen Nakatani (Member of Parliament);
Shiori Yamao (Member of Parliament);
Akira Igata (Professor, Tama University)

Session 2:
Jun Hori (Journalist; Director, NPO 8bitNews)

2nd session: Panel discussion
Tomoko Ako (Professor, University of Tokyo)
Ken Inoue (Vice Chairman, Japan International Peacebuilding Association)

2nd session:
Yasunobu Sato (Professor, University of Tokyo)
Michiya Kumaoka (Professor, Japan Institute of the Moving Image; Co-Representative, People’s Forum on. Cambodia, Japan)

1st session:
Koua Tasaka (Representation from Japan, Pesticide Action Network Asia And The Pacific (PAN AP))
Yukiko Yonekura (Associate Professor, Showa Women’s University)

2nd session:
Machiko Kaida (Representative Director, Japan International Center for the Rights of the Child (C-rights))
Yasunobu Sato (Professor, University of Tokyo)

Contact: Haruki Matsui (Student, University of Tokyo)
Email address: matchan0527[at]icloud.com