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Sukehiro Hasegawa

President, Global Peacebuilding Association of Japan

Mr. Sukehiro HasegawaFormer Special Representative of the UN Secretary- General for Timor-Leste. He has authored numerous books including Primordial Leadership: Peacebuilding and National Leadership in Timor-Leste.

The role of the United Nations peace operations encountered rapid change in response to the evolving concept of peace. In 1945, when the UN was founded, peace meant the absence of inter-state wars. However, at the end of the Cold War, which was characterized by the outbreak of intra-state wars, maintaining security became the major role of the UN. Within this context, constructing perpetual peace grounded on democratic norms as well as the establishment of the rule of law became the major tasks for peace operations. In the contemporary world, the causes of civil wars entail ideological confrontations which transcend national and regional boundaries, invoking multilateral conflicts. As such, building the political environment in which the local population, local leaders and people who holds different values and religious beliefs to live and coexist in a peaceful and stable society constitutes the core component of peace operations.

To pursue this goal, peacebuilders are required for assistance in building peace for citizens and local leaders founded on both peace and development, in other words, human security and human development, so to develop the democratic political structure which values freedom and human rights, as well as the rule of law which enables the establishment of human rights and politics based on freedom and impartiality.

Peacebuilding is ultimately a political process, the process to establish the opportunity for leaders and parties to take constructive roles in shaping a new and stable society. In order to achieve this, harmonizing universal values with traditional norms and customary practices is required. Peacebuilders are asked to be equipped with specialties and technical skills, as well as in-depth understanding towards the conditions of the new era.

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