Ms. Takako Miyazaki is a graduate of ICU who has spent much of her life in the US, and served as the president of ICU’s Alumni Association in the Americas in the 1990s. Through the ICU AAA, she had several memorable encounters with Dr. Sadako Ogata, the former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. We asked Ms. Miyazaki to share them with us.
From June 5 to 7, JICUF participated in the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)’s annual gathering in Geneva, Switzerland. The Consultations on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways is UNHCR’s most important multilateral forum, and delegates from 44 countries came together to discuss urgent issues in refugee protection.
This spring, JICUF decided to compile our work on refugee higher education under an initiative titled “Refugee Education Japan (REJ),” and launched a new website.
Since JICUF launched the Syrian Scholars Initiative in 2017 to welcome Syrian students with refugee backgrounds to ICU, we have gradually expanded our support for displaced students, and now are part of global and domestic networks to promote education pathways for refugees.
On February 12 and 13, 2024, JICUF co-organized the “Asia Pacific Complementary Education Pathways Community of Practice meeting” in Manila, the Philippines with the Embassy of Canada to the Philippines, De La Salle University, Refugee Education Special Interest Group of Australia, and Pathways Japan. More than 40 participants gathered to discuss the way forward in supporting refugees through higher education.
On May 17 and 18, JICUF co-hosted a conference titled “Expanding Refugee Education Pathways” at Sophia University with the Global Task Force on Third Country Education Pathways (GTF), Pathways Japan, and Sophia University. About 60 participants from 20 countries gathered to discuss how to increase educational opportunities for refugee students to provide a safe pathway to a third country.
In July, JICUF launched a series of online meetings with UNHCR to discuss higher education initiatives for refugees in Asia and the Pacific with institutions across the region. Two sessions have already been held, with about 80 participants representing close to 20 countries across the region. Two more sessions will be held in September.
On June 18th and 19th, Aki Takada, Associate Director of JICUF, attended a conference titled “The Other 1%: Refugees at Institutions for Higher Education Worldwide” in Berlin, Germany. She introduced JICUF’s Syrian Scholars Initiative in a workshop on Financing Models and Strategic Partnerships.
On December 1st and 2nd, JICUF and UNHCR Japan co-hosted a symposium at the International House of Japan in Tokyo entitled “Supporting Refugees in Higher Education: Japanese Models and Next Steps.” Close to 80 participants including representatives of Japanese universities, NPOs and government agencies participated to discuss existing programs for supporting refugee students and to explore ways to strengthen collaboration among institutions.
