Greetings from the Ambassador to South Sudan
2015/5/12
I am KIYA Masahiko, Ambassador of Japan to South Sudan. I arrived in South Sudan on 27 April 2015. Pleased to meet you.
South Sudan is the world’s newest country, gaining independence in July 2011. Currently, with support from the international community, South Sudan is working to build a peaceful and stable state for future development. Japan has been helping South Sudan even before its independence, extending peacebuilding, humanitarian and development assistance, and is currently dispatching its Self-Defense Force to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
I personally feel a unique bond with South Sudan. Africa was my first appointed post as a diplomat, 25 years ago. Later, I worked on development issues when I was stationed in the United States and South Asia. Afterwards, I was responsible for peacebuilding, peacekeeping operations (PKO), and the United Nations in Tokyo. I had an opportunity to visit Sudan as well at that time. When I was seconded to the Ministry of Defense, I worked on PKO and civil-military cooperation. I intend to use my experience, to its full extent, to promote state building and development of South Sudan, as well as to advance a wide-ranging relationship between Japan and South Sudan.
The Embassy’s mission is to strengthen the relationship between the newly independent South Sudan and Japan in every dimension, for the benefit of both countries and the world. While there are still much to do, I believe as Ambassador that it is pivotal to take actions on the following three aspects at this point in time.
The first is to contribute to South Sudan in a way that takes advantage of Japan’s strength. Japan’s Self-Defense Force, JICA, NGOs, and the business sector have useful knowledge and resources that could be greatly beneficial to South Sudan’s peacebuilding and development, such as infrastructure development, human resource development and promotion of human security. In cooperation with the Government of South Sudan, along with other countries and international organizations, I would like to make full use of such advantages and to steadily bring about concrete outcomes.
Secondly, I believe it is important to put emphasis on public communication and people-to-people exchange in both countries. The relationship between Japan and South Sudan will flourish though better mutual understanding. We will support the people of South Sudan, through various media outlets, in further understanding Japan’s contribution to South Sudan as well as Japan’s good points. In turn, assisting Japanese people to better understand South Sudan’s current situation, potentials as well as challenges, and appreciation and expectations towards the Japanese people would also be part of this process. To achieve this, increasing people-to-people exchange in a variety of areas is crucial.
Thirdly, I would like to focus on security measures and crisis management. In order to reinforce the relationship between Japan and South Sudan, ensuring the safety of Japanese residents in, and visitors to, South Sudan is indispensable. As the security situation slightly improved, travel restrictions were partially relaxed in October 2014, ODA programs were resumed in Juba. In order to steadily expand various assistance and business activities, I would like to make sure that that information on the latest security situation is fully obtained and shared in a timely manner and that all preparation is made to respond to any emergency situation.
The Embassy is a service organization for the Japanese people and for the people of South Sudan who have an interest in Japan. In “an Embassy with its door wide open”, I look forward to cooperating with everyone in order to strengthen the relationship between Japan and South Sudan.
12 May 2015
KIYA Masahiko, Ambassador of Japan to South Sudan
South Sudan is the world’s newest country, gaining independence in July 2011. Currently, with support from the international community, South Sudan is working to build a peaceful and stable state for future development. Japan has been helping South Sudan even before its independence, extending peacebuilding, humanitarian and development assistance, and is currently dispatching its Self-Defense Force to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
I personally feel a unique bond with South Sudan. Africa was my first appointed post as a diplomat, 25 years ago. Later, I worked on development issues when I was stationed in the United States and South Asia. Afterwards, I was responsible for peacebuilding, peacekeeping operations (PKO), and the United Nations in Tokyo. I had an opportunity to visit Sudan as well at that time. When I was seconded to the Ministry of Defense, I worked on PKO and civil-military cooperation. I intend to use my experience, to its full extent, to promote state building and development of South Sudan, as well as to advance a wide-ranging relationship between Japan and South Sudan.
The Embassy’s mission is to strengthen the relationship between the newly independent South Sudan and Japan in every dimension, for the benefit of both countries and the world. While there are still much to do, I believe as Ambassador that it is pivotal to take actions on the following three aspects at this point in time.
The first is to contribute to South Sudan in a way that takes advantage of Japan’s strength. Japan’s Self-Defense Force, JICA, NGOs, and the business sector have useful knowledge and resources that could be greatly beneficial to South Sudan’s peacebuilding and development, such as infrastructure development, human resource development and promotion of human security. In cooperation with the Government of South Sudan, along with other countries and international organizations, I would like to make full use of such advantages and to steadily bring about concrete outcomes.
Secondly, I believe it is important to put emphasis on public communication and people-to-people exchange in both countries. The relationship between Japan and South Sudan will flourish though better mutual understanding. We will support the people of South Sudan, through various media outlets, in further understanding Japan’s contribution to South Sudan as well as Japan’s good points. In turn, assisting Japanese people to better understand South Sudan’s current situation, potentials as well as challenges, and appreciation and expectations towards the Japanese people would also be part of this process. To achieve this, increasing people-to-people exchange in a variety of areas is crucial.
Thirdly, I would like to focus on security measures and crisis management. In order to reinforce the relationship between Japan and South Sudan, ensuring the safety of Japanese residents in, and visitors to, South Sudan is indispensable. As the security situation slightly improved, travel restrictions were partially relaxed in October 2014, ODA programs were resumed in Juba. In order to steadily expand various assistance and business activities, I would like to make sure that that information on the latest security situation is fully obtained and shared in a timely manner and that all preparation is made to respond to any emergency situation.
The Embassy is a service organization for the Japanese people and for the people of South Sudan who have an interest in Japan. In “an Embassy with its door wide open”, I look forward to cooperating with everyone in order to strengthen the relationship between Japan and South Sudan.
12 May 2015
KIYA Masahiko, Ambassador of Japan to South Sudan