(NEWS) Sasakawa Fellowship Students Orientation 2023

September

2023

Sasakawa Fellowship Students Orientation 2023

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The Orientation for the new Sasakawa Fellowship Students in the Class of 2023 was held at WMU on 15 September in the Sasakawa Auditorium. The orientation event is hosted annually by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation to promote connections between the graduating Class and the incoming Sasakawa-sponsored students to foster future collaboration. The Class of 2023, with 30 Sasakawa Fellowship Students who will be graduating at the end of October, welcomed the 31 Sasakawa Fellowship Students in the Class of 2024.

The Sasakawa Fellows Programme provides a global network to enable Sasakawa Fellows who graduate from WMU to support their countries in addressing maritime policy challenges and to develop excellence in leadership as well as promote international cooperation. Sasakawa Fellowship Students are expected to take advantage of the experience gained at WMU to resolve challenges that their countries may face, and to build strong human networks to implement positive change in the maritime world as well as society in general.

The Nippon Foundation was represented by Mr. Eisuke Kudo, Advisor for the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF) and Ms. Emi Shimada of SPF. The orientation included opening remarks by Mr Kudo who has been involved with the WMU Sasakawa Fellowship Programme for over 20 years. He emphasized the importance of making connections with other Sasakawa Fellows to advance the overall network, always keeping in mind the motto of Nippon Foundation Chairman, Dr Yohei Sasakawa, “One World. One Family.” Ms Shimada then made a presentation on the history of the Sasakawa Fellows programme, its administration and funding arrangements. Mr Takanori Uzumaki in the Class of 2023 was the Master of Ceremonies.

Sasakawa Fellowship Students in both the Class of 2023 and the Class of 2024 introduced themselves to each other and to the SPF team. A reception followed in the WMU World Bistro where Professor Maximo Q. Mejia, Jr., WMU President, thanked The Nippon Foundation on behalf of the University for their extraordinary, and ongoing support for maritime and ocean capacity building through providing fellowships to WMU students.

In his remarks at the evening reception, Mr Francesco Leonardo Castiglione Escontreia from the Class of 2023 advised the incoming Sasakawa Fellowship Students to treasure their time at WMU and to take advantage of the extensive Sasakawa Fellows Network when returning home after graduation. On behalf of the incoming Class of 2024 Sasakawa Fellowship Students, Mr Carlos Manuel Mosquera Athanasiadis promised that the new Class would uphold the values of the Sasakawa network to build a better, sustainable world where no one is left behind and to take advantage of the experience and knowledge available in the expanding Sasakawa Fellows network.

The Nippon Foundation’s contributions to WMU began in 1987 providing fellowships for WMU students from Asia and Africa. The WMU Sasakawa Fellowship Programme began in 1988. The Nippon Foundation is the largest fellowship donor to the University. The Class of 2023 Sasakawa Fellowship Students brings the total number of students funded by The Nippon Foundation to 790, coming from more than 80 countries.

Each year, a limited number of Sasakawa Fellowships are open to government employees from developing countries. The Sasakawa Fellowship Awards Committee looks for well qualified candidates with a strong academic and professional record. Candidates aged between 26 and 35 are prioritized. Interested applicants should apply for admission to the University, and in tandem, should submit an Application for Donor Funding from their organizations, plus a Sasakawa Fellowship Motivational Statement, completed by the candidate. It is essential that both these forms are completed in detail and with reference to the University’s Academic Handbook and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation’s website: https://www.spf.org/en/ Complete applications must be sent to the University by the end of January in the year of entry. For more information, click here.

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