Yōhei Sasakawa

Yohei Sasakawa (2015)

The Japanese Yōhei Sasakawa ( Japanese 笹 川 陽平 Sasakawa Yōhei ; * January 8, 1939 ) is the chairman of the Nippon Foundation , a private, non-profit foundation founded in 1962. It finances maritime development aid and humanitarian projects in the areas of social welfare, public health and education at home and abroad through motorboat races.

family

His father was the businessman, politician, and philanthropist Ryōichi Sasakawa . Yōhei is the younger brother of the politician Takashi Sasagawa .

Offices

Sasakawa worked in business for 20 years before joining the Nippon Foundation in 1981. He started out as a curator. In 1988 he became acting President, in 1989 Ordinary President and in 2005 Chairman.

Since 2001 Sasakawa is also " a goodwill ambassador of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the eradication of leprosy ." In 2007, the Japanese Foreign Minister also appointed him “Goodwill Ambassador for the Human Rights of People with Leprosy”. In 2012, again by the Japanese Foreign Minister, he was appointed “Ambassador of goodwill for the common good of the national ethnic groups of Myanmar ” and in 2013 he was appointed “Special Envoy of Japan for National Reconciliation in Myanmar”. Sasakawa still holds all of these offices today.

Initiatives

Sasakawa with Brazil's Minister Ernesto Araújo (2019)

In 1986 Sasakawa started the "Sasakawa Global 2000 Program" to enable African states to achieve stable economic independence. In 1987, the "Sasakawa Medical Scholarship Program" followed to train 2,000 doctors from the People's Republic of China and the "Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund" (SYLFF), which enabled a network of 69 large universities from all over the world.

In 1993, Sasakawa led an international research program to create a shipping route through the Arctic. In 1999 he founded a network of universities dealing with maritime subjects and provided medical support for children who were victims of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster . In 2000, Sasakawa initiated the "Nippon Foundation Fellowships for Asian Public Intelectuals" (API Fellowships) in five Asian countries. In Mongolia , Sasakawa started a traditional medicine project. In 2006 he founded the India Lepros Foundation in New Delhi and in 2007 the Aids to Navigation Fund, an initiative to protect the Strait of Malacca and the Strait of Singapore .

As "Goodwill Ambassador for the Human Rights of People with Leprosy," Sasakawa assisted the Japanese government in submitting a draft resolution to the UN Human Rights Council to "end discrimination against people with leprosy and their family members." ASEAN Secretariat , the Nippon Foundation started a project on leprosy and human dignity in 2009 . In 2010, with Sasakawa's help, the Japanese government issued another resolution to “End Discrimination Against People Suffering from Leprosy and Their Family Members” along with “Principles and Guidelines” for the UN Human Rights Council. The resolution was later also adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . Schools for prosthetics and orthotics were set up in Indonesia and the Philippines .

After the Tōhoku earthquake in 2011 , Sasakawa supported various aid projects with the Nippon Foundation in the affected eastern Japan. This included the distribution of relief supplies, support from nearly 700 groups of volunteers and a symposium where international radiation experts discussed the health risks for the residents of Fukushima .

From 2011, Sasakawa organized annual symposia on the subject of "Leprosy and Human Rights". The first took place in Rio de Janeiro , followed by New Delhi (2012), Addis Ababa (2013) and Rabat (2014). At the final symposium in Geneva (2015), a research report and recommendations were drawn up for an international working group. In Myanmar , Sasakawa directed the distribution of donations totaling US $ 3 million to residents affected by the internal conflict, in hard-to-reach areas, under the control of the rebel armies of the various minorities. As a special envoy of the Japanese government, he promoted dialogue between the conflicting parties in the Southeast Asian country from 2013. A nationwide ceasefire was signed in Myanmar in 2015. Sasakawa signed as a witness and Japanese special envoy. He headed the Japanese government's election observation team in Myanmar.

In the same year Sasakawa founded the "Nippon Foundation Paralympic Support Center" and started the "Maritime Safety Policy Program" (MSP).

Awards

Sasakawa receives the International Gandhi Award (2006)

• 2019 Order of the Rising Sun , Japan
• 2019 Gandhi Peace Prize (Awarded 2018)
• 2018 Honorary Citizenship of Palau
• 2018 The Royal Order of Monisaraphon Knight Grand Cross, Cambodia
• 2017 Ocean's 8 Award, UNESCO Oceanographic Commission
• 2017 Health and Human Rights Award, International Council of Nurses
• 2017 Plus ratio quam vis Medal, Jagiellonian University
• 2017 Health-for-All Gold Medal, World Health Organization
• 2016 The Award of Distinction, the President of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
• 2015 International Maritime Prize (awarded in 2014)
• 2014 The Rule of Law Award, International Bar Association
• 2013 Gold Medal of Merit, Serbia
• 2013 Friendship Medal, Vietnam
• 2011 Royal Order of Sahametrei class Maha Sirivudha (Grand Cross), Cambodia
• 2011 Commander of the Medal of Gratitude Central Africa
• 2010 Commander des Order des Defender of the Realm (Panglima Mangku Negara) Tan Sri, Malaysia
• 2010 Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit
• 2010 Ethiopian Millennium Gold Medal
• 2010 Royal Order of the Polar Star-Commander First Class, Sweden
• Insígnia des Ordem de Timor-Leste
• 2010 Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon with Star, Iceland
• 2010 Order of the Knight of Dannebrog, Denmark
• 2010 Dr. Norman E. Borlaug Medallion of the World Food Prize
• 2010 Commander of the Order of the White Rose, Finland
• 2010 Patriarch's Chart of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill
• 2010 Honorary Academician Diploma of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences
• 2009 Science for Society 'Award, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
• 2007 International Gandhi Award (presented in 2006)
• 2007 Polestar Order, Mongolia
• 2007 Coast Guard Legion of Honor (Degree of Maginoo)
• 2006 Commandeur de l'Ordre National du Mali à titre Étranger
• 2004 Yomiuri International Cooperation Prize, Japan
• 2003 Commandeur de l'Ordre Royal du Monisaraphon, Cambodia
• 2003 National Construction Medal, Cambodia
• 2003 Officier de l'Ordre National, Government of Madagascar
• 2003 Special Award, World Maritime University, Sweden
• 2001 Vaclav Havel Memorial Medal, Czech Republic
• 2001 Millennium Gandhi Award, International Leprosy Union
• 2000 Grand Officer of the Order of Merit, Government of Romania
• 2000 International Green Pen Awards honor for Pacific Environmental Journalism, Fiji
• 2000 Decerne la Medaille d'Honneur de Menerbes, France
• 1998 Al Hussein Bin Ali Decoration for Accomplishment-First Degree, Jordan
• 1998 Health-for-All Gold Medal, World Health Organization
• 1997 China Health Medal, Republic of China
• 1996 Frantsiska Scarina Medal, Belarus
• 1996 Medal for Merits Third Degree, Ukraine
• 1996 Kin Inka Sho, Peru
• 1996 Order of Friendship, Russia
• 1996 Order of Merit for Distinguished Service-Third Grade, Peru
• 1995 La Grande Étoile de Djibouti, Djibouti
• 1989 Grand Officier de L'Ordre du Mono, Togo

Web links

Commons : Yohei Sasakawa  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf} Nippon Foundation: Profile of Yohei Sasakawa , July 2018 , accessed November 11, 2019.
2. ^ Nippon Foundation: Mission , accessed November 11, 2019.
3. ^ Government of East Timor: “The Restoration of Independence Attributes Us Responsibility” , May 21, 2010 , accessed on January 19, 2018.