Highlights from the FY2025 Primary Course
For the FY2025 (Reiwa 7) Primary Course (October 12 – November 30, 2025), 12 participants from Japan and 12 participants from Cambodia, East Timor, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Guatemala, Ecuador, Armenia, Palestine, Iraq, Cameroon, South Sudan, and African Union Commission (AUC) took part in the course. They came from international organizations, NGOs, government agencies, and the private sector. In addition, a diverse and experienced group of facilitators, including current and former UN and international organization staff, Hiroshima University faculty members, and doctoral students, supported the course.
The course focused on four core themes:
- Substantive knowledge about peacebuilding, international development, and international organizations;
- Skills to work effectively in international organizations;
- Career-building skills; and
- Hiroshima’s messages of peace.
The Program Associates also learned about topics related to the “quintet of change,” as outlined in the UN 2.0 Policy Brief, including the use of open-source data and artificial intelligence (AI), as well as basic safety and security in the field.
The highlight of the course was the visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, where the trainees had the rare opportunity to hear Keiko Ogura, an atomic bomb survivor, share her experiences after the atomic bomb exploded above Hiroshima City in 1945.
After completing the Hiroshima Training Component, 12 Japanese trainees will be dispatched overseas as UN Volunteers (UNV) for one year, starting their assignment in various UN agencies and organizations.