In support of all those who oppose Russia’s aggression against Ukraine
4th JAHSS President
Yusuke Dan
The Japan Association for Human Security Studies (JAHSS) vehemently condemns Russia’s recent military decision to risk the lives of people in Ukraine. This Association consists of academics and practitioners devoted to promoting freedom from fear and want as well as the right to live in dignity for every individual around the world. We cannot tolerate the threat to the human security of the citizens of Kyiv and other regions of Ukraine, nor of the Russian people and media who risk their freedoms and lives by protesting against their government’s actions.
In the twenty-first century, such an inexcusable international threat to the lives and everyday of citizens can command no legitimacy or justification whatsoever. We demand that the aggressor cease acts that lead to human insecurity immediately, and that all parties keep channels of communication open to negotiate a mutually agreeable resolution as civilized nations.
28 February 2022
Opposing the recent political intervention that threatens academic freedom
4th JAHSS President
Yusuke Dan
Witnessing Japan’s Prime Minister abruptly rejecting the nomination of six academics, who have previously been critical of government policy, to the Science Council of Japan, we as an academic association committed to the freedom of speech firmly opposes any political intervention in academic freedoms.
So far it is reported that more than 90 academic associations in Japan have voiced their objections to this violation, while global academic journals, including both Nature and Science, have swiftly alarmed the public of the event.
The administration should be aware of the fact that every such move shames this nation by violating the globally shared understanding that the state will respect scholarly independence. Such convention guides the relationship between science and politics in modern nations.
As academics and practitioners committed to promoting the human security of every individual on earth, we regard this current move to be a grave threat to the security of people, the environment and societies, which can never be tolerated.
12 October 2020
JAHSS Call to Meet the Challenges of the Pandemic
4th JAHSS President
Dan Yusuke
Japan Association for Human Security Studies (JAHSS) wishes to voice the determination of its members to support all individuals, organizations, and governments in their conscientious endeavor to contain the impacts of the current COVID-19 pandemic. We as an academic association focusing on the study of human security feel especially obliged to rise to the challenge. This virus, which is invisible to the human eye, is crossing borders unnoticed. It is viciously compromising the personal security of each and every human on a global scale which has rarely been seen in the recent past.
We know that the financially disadvantaged, as well as those fragile individuals in society, promptly face the issue of survival in countries and areas where the public safety net is scant or non-existent. This includes a large segment of the populations in both developing and developed nations. Currently the virus seems to be ravaging mainly the developed world, which soon is bound to wreak havoc in the rest of the developing world. Individuals living under weaker public health systems tend to be far more vulnerable to such a pandemic as this. We are yet to witness what may lie ahead.
We also recognize that, under such critical circumstances, the public health sector personnel need our primary attention and support so that they can safely do their work, namely, save the lives of those who can be saved. We depend on the medical community to sustain the human security of individuals in pain. In this context, we as a multi-disciplinary academic association emphasize the significance of a dynamic, two-way risk communication between scientists and citizens.
Freedom from fear and want, along with the promotion of dignity, are the pillars of human security values. These values are all ever so relevant in this critical moment when healthy individuals, young and old, lose their lives so suddenly and prematurely in huge numbers. This is unthinkable in a time of peace. Given the magnitude and depth of the global human catastrophe unraveling in front of our eyes, we deem that this is not only an issue of public health or national security, but indeed an issue of human security.
If academicians and practitioners keen to address human security related issues turned their back to what is developing on this globe today simply because they are not epidemiologists, then they would shamelessly be declaring to the world that the study and expertise in human security does not contribute to the wellbeing of humankind. At a time when governments are forced to close their state borders, let us, as a global academic community, strengthen our efforts to collaborate worldwide with individuals and organizations to overcome this global crisis.
10 April 2020
人間の安全保障学会 新型コロナウイルス感染症に関する声明
人間の安全保障学会第4代会長
旦 祐介
人間の安全保障学会は、学会会員の声を代表して、新型ウイルス(COVID-19)を食い止めようと精力的に取り組んでいるすべての個人、諸団体および諸政府への支援を表明します。本学会は人間の安全保障研究を推進する学会として、特にこのパンデミックに立ち向かう責務を感じています。目に見えないこの脅威は、国境を越え、まれに見る規模であらゆる個々人の安全と安心を無残にも奪っています。
経済的に恵まれない人々をはじめ、社会的サポートを必要としている人たちは、特にセイフティー・ネットが弱い国や地域において、たちどころに生死の狭間をさまようことになります。これには途上国だけでなく先進国の大多数の人々も含まれます。現在ウイルスは主として先進地域を攻撃しているようですが、間もなく残りの途上地域でも猛威を振るうことになるでしょう。また公衆衛生制度が整っていない地域では、往々にして人々は、このようなパンデミックに対して無力です。今後の展開は予断を許さない状況が続いています。
このような危機的な状況では、医療従事者が確実に患者を救えるように、私たちがまず彼らを重視し、支援するべきです。医療関係者こそが、苦しむ一人ひとりの人間の安全保障を確保してくれます。この点で、多分野をまたぐ学術団体である本学会は、科学者と市民との双方向的リスク・コミュニケーションを重視しています。
恐怖と欠乏からの自由、および尊厳の推進は、人間の安全保障の柱です。数知れない健康な高齢者や若者がこれほど唐突に命を奪われる時、これらの人間の安全保障の価値は、極めて意義深いものと言えます。このような事態は平時には本来ありえないことです。我々の眼前にあるグローバルな破滅の深刻さを考えれば、これがもはや公衆衛生や国家安全保障の課題にとどまらず、真の意味で人間の安全保障とみなすべきことであると確信します。
もし人間の安全保障に関心を持つ研究者や実務家が、自分が伝染病学者でないという理由から、現在世界で進行している現実に背を向けるなら、それは人間の安全保障の研究や専門的知識が人類の幸福に貢献しないと自ら認めるようなものです。各国政府が国境を封鎖した今、私たちは国際的研究共同体として、このグローバルな危機を克服したいと考える諸個人や諸組織と国境を越えて協調していくことを宣言いたします。
2020年4月10日