Report of the 9th International Week－Faculty of Economics Special Open Class: The State of the World’s Children and the Activities of UNICEF

Beginning in 2011, International Week has offered various events focusing on a certain country, region, or international organization every year, with the aim of promoting the internationalization of Chuo and motivating the students’ intellectual curiosity.

This year, classes and lectures were offered on the theme of international organizations, and a special open class “The State of the World’s Children and the Activities of UNICEF” was conducted at Room 8201, Building No. 8, Tama Campus, on November 28, 2017.

The class was specially opened with a lecture on International Development by Professor Mitsuhiro Hayashi of the Faculty of Economics, with a guest speaker from the Japan Committee for UNICEF, Princess Tsuguko of Takamado.

Princess Tsuguko spoke on various topics including the activities of UNICEF and the difference between the Japan Committee for UNICEF and UNICEF, and the reason why she first became involved in international cooperation. She introduced stories of UNICEF field staff, showing to the audience a ready-to-use therapeutic food, peanut butter flavored Plumpy’nut, which is distributed by UNICEF in areas of need. Also, a short video was shown on the lives of the children in developing countries and Syrian child refugees, to visually appeal to the audience. The Princess welcomed questions from the students at the end, and students asked her many questions, such as “Are there any cases where rationed items are not received by the target population or are used in an unintended way, and are there any measures to guard against such risks?” or “In a case that water wells or toilets are set up, are there any mechanisms created for local residents to control these?” The Princess graciously answered all of these questions one by one.