“I am a Pacific Islander too,” President says

HONOLULU (Nov. 18, 2011) -- Heads of State and special envoys from eleven Pacific island nations met with President Obama, Secretary of State Clinton and other top U.S. and international officials in a special series of meetings organized by the East-West Center in parallel with the recently completed APEC leaders’ week in Honolulu, Hawai‘i.

Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, and Tonga were represented. The Honorable Peter O’Neil, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, was selected as the delegation’s Chairman, with Niue’s Premier, Hon. Toke Talagi, serving as Vice Chairman.

President and his family view exhibit on his mother’s anthropology work and visit Japanese Garden 

HONOLULU (Jan. 1, 2012) – President Obama and his family paid a New Year’s Day visit to the East-West Center to view an exhibition on the anthropological field work that the president’s late mother, Ann Dunham, conducted in Indonesia. The family also visited the Center’s well-known Japanese garden.

Funded by the U.S. State Dept., cross-border project
focuses on ‘peri-urban’ development issues

HONOLULU (Feb. 3, 2012) – East-West Center environmental researchers have launched a new cooperative project with specialists in India and Pakistan to collaborate on studying development issues in critical ‘peri-urban’ areas that lie between cities and the countryside.

 This project “offers a rare opportunity for Indian and Pakistani researchers to work together on a shared exploration of the challenges and impacts of an issue that deeply affects both nations,” said EWC research fellow Sumeet Saksena, the project’s principal investigator.

Journalists from Pacific Plate countries invited to apply by March 12

HONOLULU (March 5, 2012) – The Japan Foundation’s Center for Global Partnership has awarded the East-West Center close to $100,000 to conduct a journalism seminar focusing on disaster management and resiliency. Journalists from Japan, the U.S., China and other countries bordering the seismically active Pacific tectonic plate are invited to apply by the March 12 deadline. Click here for more information.

HONOLULU (July 16, 2012) – An international delegation of election observers who monitored the July 7 national parliamentary elections in Timor Leste has issued a preliminary statement congratulating the people of the that country for “an open and spirited electoral process… that generated high voter interest.”

HONOLULU (July 20, 2012) – The East-West Center and EWC Alumni Association will recognize six outstanding alumni and two alumni chapters for their exceptional accomplishments and service at the EWC/EWCA International Conference in Beijing, Sept. 1-3 at Peking University.

Recipients of the 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award are:

HONOLULU (Nov. 2, 2012) – Eight journalists from various parts of Asia have begun the East-West Center’s special U.S. Presidential Election Reporting Seminar. On the 12-day tour immediately before, during and after the election, the journalists will visit Florida, Ohio and Washington, DC to gain inside perspectives on the American electoral system and the key issues involved in this year’s presidential contest.

HONOLULU (Nov. 8, 2012) -- For a number of years the East-West Center, with support from the U.S. Department of State, has fielded multinational election observation teams to learn about and offer suggestions for improving the ways in which elections are conducted in various Asia Pacific nations.

This year, for the first time, the Center’s Pacific Islands Development Program hosted a multinational group of election officials and journalists and during the 2012 U.S. presidential election. The program sought to provide participants with first-hand knowledge and experience of America’s national, state and local electoral systems through direct observation and interaction with a diverse range of individuals engaged in the electoral process.

The participants included:

HONOLULU (Nov 15, 2012) – More than 50 teacher-trainers, officials and diplomats from nine Association of Southeast Asian Nations member countries have arrived at the East-West Center for a month of intensive English-language education training as part of the new Brunei-U.S. English Language Enrichment Program for ASEAN.

HONOLULU (Nov. 29, 2012) -- The Pacific Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments program (Pacific RISA) has launched an updated, interactive website as a focal point for the current state of climate knowledge about Hawai‘i and the U.S-Affiliated Pacific Islands.

The improved site at PacificRISA.org serves as a hub of interactive media, publications, and tools produced by researchers at the East-West Center, the University of Hawai‘i, and other partner organizations.  Users can explore current knowledge about climate change from Pacific RISA’s interdisciplinary work in areas such as climate projections, hydrological modeling, disaster risk assessment, and legal and policy analysis.

HONOLULU (December 4, 2012)—The Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment (PIRCA) today released its first report, Climate Change and Pacific Islands: Indicators and Impacts (Island Press). The report highlights the findings of more than 100 scientists and other experts who assessed the state of knowledge about climate change and its impacts on the Hawaiian archipelago and the US-Affiliated Pacific Islands. The report also examines the adaptive capacity of island communities in the region.

HONOLULU (Jan.16, 2013) — The Pacific Islands Climate Services Forum to be held next week in Suva, Fiji, will feature discussion of the recently released 2012 Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment (PIRCA) report, titled Climate Change and Pacific Islands: Indicators and Impacts.  The Forum provides an opportunity for dialogue between climate experts and decision makers, including resource and disaster risk managers and community planners, as well as government ministries and policy makers from across the region. PIRCA editors will present a summary of the report, which incorporates findings of the more than 100 scientists who assessed climate change impacts in Hawai‘i and the US-Affiliated Pacific Islands.

HONOLULU (May 22, 2013) -- The East-West Center has received $108,000 from the Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy to study how local governance mechanisms can be enhanced to address natural disasters more effectively. The ICLD grant of $108,000 will fund a collaborative research project to be conducted with partner institutions in Bangladesh and China, with EWC Senior Fellow G. Shabbir Cheema as Principal Investigator.

YANGON, MYANMAR (June 25, 2013) -- Sixteen distinguished journalists from 10 Asia Pacific nations, including the U.S., are currently visiting Myanmar on a study tour, as the East-West Center brings its internationally recognized Jefferson Fellowships journalists’ exchange program to the country for the first time in the program’s 46-year history.

Young leaders from 10 Pacific nations participating in program supported by Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry

HONOLULU (Sept. 10, 2013) -- The East-West Center has welcomed the first group of participants to the Pacific Islands Leadership Program with Taiwan, a new initiative designed to enhance leadership capacity in the Pacific islands region and build a network of young leaders who will contribute to lasting people-to-people relationships across the Pacific, Asia, and United States.

HONOLULU (Sept. 24, 2013) -- Distinguished health experts from around the world are gathered this week at the East-West Center in Hawai‘i for the 15th International Conference of the Pacific Basin Consortium for Environment and Health. Keynote speakers include Superfund Research Program Director William Suk of the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn Mahidol of Thailand, a professor of chemistry who will speak on potential health impacts of exposure to environmental pollutants in children.

Princess Chulabhorn Mahidol of Thailand speaks on the impacts of environmental pollutants on children's health.Major themes of the Sept. 24-27 conference include:

HONOLULU (Jan. 10, 2014) – Twenty K-12 educators from South Korea have arrived at the East-West Center to begin a month of residencies in U.S. school communities in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts and Vermont. The ROK-US Teacher Exchange Program global learning and school immersion program is coordinated by EWC’s AsiaPacificEd Program with funding from the Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding under the auspices of UNESCO and the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Education. Later this year, American teachers from the U.S. host schools will travel to Korea for reciprocal exchange and learning.

HONOLULU (July 24, 2014) – The East-West Center has announced the names of EWC alumni, volunteers and a local alumni chapter that will be honored at the Center’s upcoming international alumni conference in Okinawa. The honorees are being recognized for their outstanding personal accomplishments and service toward the Center’s mission of helping to promote better relations and understanding among the peoples of Asia, the Pacific and the United States.

Distinguished Alumni Award

Young leaders from 13 Pacific nations participating
in program supported by Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry

HONOLULU (Sept. 9, 2013) -- The East-West Center has welcomed 26 participants from 13 island nations to the 2014 Pacific Islands Leadership Program with Taiwan.

Honolulu (Feb. 12, 2015) -- The East-West Center has been awarded a grant of  $267,186 from the Japan Foundation’s Center for Global Partnership for a three-year dialogue and travel-exchange program focusing on community participation in long-term recovery after a major disaster. 

Participants from the cities of Kobe and Kesennuma in Japan, and New Orleans and Galveston in the United States, will share experiences, perspectives, and best practices for increasing citizen input on post-disaster policy and decision-making. 

HONOLULU (July 13, 2015) - The Hawaii, USA-based East-West Center has been conducting three separate programs in Myanmar this summer designed to enrich English-language skills for local teachers and journalists. The programs include a media workshop focusing on journalist instruction through English news analysis, a teacher exchange designed to strengthen English instruction, and long-term teacher residencies through the Center-administrated Brunei-U.S. English Enrichment Program for ASEAN.

HONOLULU (Aug. 18, 2015) – Thanks to more than $84,000 in funding from the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the East-West Center’s 2015 Senior Journalists Seminar, which seeks to improve relations between the U.S. and Muslim regions, will include more Middle Eastern journalists and, for the first time, arts and culture reporters.

HONOLULU (Dec. 15, 2015) – The East-West Center has announced the names of EWC alumni, volunteers and alumni chapters that will be honored at the Center’s upcoming international alumni conference in Manila, Philippines Jan. 15-17, 2016. The honorees are being recognized for their outstanding personal accomplishments and service toward the Center’s mission of helping to promote better relations and understanding among the peoples of Asia, the Pacific and the United States.

Distinguished Alumni Award

EWC Okinawan projects specialist Bob Nakasone
establishes $50,000 endowment in parents’ honor

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 27, 2016) -- The East-West Center in Washington has announced the appointment of four international 2016 Asia Studies Fellows, as well as the arrival of two additional visiting scholars.

The East West Center in Washington hosts a number of Visiting Fellows and Visiting Scholars each year. “The robust Visiting Fellows program in Washington, D.C. promotes the core missions of the East-West Center—education, research and exchange,” said Satu Limaye, EWC Director in Washington. “The Visiting Fellows give public presentations, cooperate with other institutions and produce outreach and publication outcomes. We welcome the new batch of visiting fellows.”

Asia Studies Fellowship Program

HONOLULU (June 16, 2016) – The Pacific Islands Development Program at the East-West Center has launched a new and improved version of its Pacific Islands Report news website, which provides readers with a free, curated roundup of current news, commentary and analysis from across the Pacific islands.

HONOLULU (Aug. 8, 2016) – The East-West Center has been awarded a three-year grant totaling $300,000 from the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation in support of the Center’s Senior Journalists Seminar media exchange program, which seeks to enhance media coverage and elevate the public debate regarding U.S. relations with Muslim majority regions.

HONOLULU (September 14, 2016) -- The Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment (PIRCA) has launched its new website at PIRCA.org.  The website provides a wealth of information and resources about climate change in Hawai‘i and the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI).

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 6, 2017) -- The East-West Center in Washington has announced the appointment of four 2017 Asia Studies Fellows from across the Asia-Pacific. Selected from a highly competitive process, these scholars will engage the Washington research and policy community over the course of their three-month residencies.

The East West Center in Washington hosts a number of Visiting Fellows and Visiting Scholars each year. “The robust Visiting Fellows program in Washington, D.C. promotes the core missions of the East-West Center—education, research and exchange,” says Satu Limaye, EWC Director in Washington. “The Visiting Fellows’ give public presentations, cooperate with other institutions and produce outreach and publication outcomes. We welcome the new batch of visiting fellows.”

HONOLULU (July 14, 2017) – Researchers with the Pacific Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (Pacific RISA) program housed at the East-West Center have released the latest in a series of “Climate Matters” ‘documoment’ videos. The new seven-minute video, titled “Climate Matters for Ridge to Reef Ecosystems,” focuses on climate change impacts in West Maui forest watersheds and reef ecosystems. The video features interviews with two Pacific RISA stakeholders from the Maui Future Climate Scenarios project, each representing part of the ridge-to-reef climate and ecosystem connection.

HONOLULU - (Aug 16, 2017) -- The East-West Center has welcomed 27 emerging leaders from 10 Pacific island nations to this year’s Pacific Islands Leadership Program with Taiwan, or PILP. The participants will spend close to two months in Honolulu, engaging in experiential learning exercises on such topics as applied leadership skills, future scenario planning, social entrepreneurship and risk analysis, climate change and environmental stewardship, international relations, and public health. Then they will travel to Taipei for a month of field study in at the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs.

HONOLULU (January 19, 2018) – The East-West Center in Honolulu Hawai‘i has just published a report on the findings of the inaugural Women20 for the G20 Asia Pacific Dialogue, which was held at the Center in June. The 20-page report expands on initial policy recommendations that the participants released soon after the meeting to help the G20 address several of the most pressing areas of ongoing disparity in women’s economic status throughout the Asia Pacific region and the world.

Findings from the report will be highlighted at several upcoming international meetings on women’s empowerment:

HONOLULU (May 4, 2018) -- The East-West Center’s Board of Governors has unanimously approved a forward-looking plan to substantially recast and rejuvenate the Center’s longstanding Pacific Islands Development Program (PIDP).

HONOLULU (May 25, 2018) – The East-West Center has announced the names of EWC alumni, volunteers and alumni chapters that will be honored at the Center’s upcoming international alumni conference in Seoul, South Korea August 23-25. The honorees are being recognized for their outstanding personal accomplishments and service toward the Center’s mission of helping to promote better relations and understanding among the peoples of Asia, the Pacific and the United States.

HONOLULU (Oct 25, 2018) -- The East-West Center has been awarded funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to support the International Research and Applications Project (IRAP), which is designed to support international, decision-based research on climate-sensitive health risks in partnership with the Pacific Regional Integrated Science and Assessment (RISA) program.

HONOLULU (October 31, 2018) -- East-West Center Distinguished Alumnus Dr. Hao Ping, who is also leader of the Center’s Beijing alumni chapter, was recently named president of Peking University, China’s premier institution of higher learning. He previously served as party secretary of the university – often referred to as the “Harvard of China” – as well as a national vice minister of education.

HONOLULU (November 23, 2018) – Strained freshwater supplies, damaged and compromised coastal infrastructure, coral reef death, and greater stresses on native biodiversity and species are among the major concerns and challenges detailed in the Hawai‘i-Pacific Islands chapter of the fourth official US National Climate Assessment, released today. In economic terms, the impacts add up to billions of dollars.

The chapter on Hawai‘i and the US-Affiliated Pacific Islands appears in Volume II of the Fourth National Climate Assessment, the most significant US report to assess the effects of climate change on the US economy and communities. The assessment finds that early action to address these impacts can lower economic, environmental, social, and cultural costs and could help to prevent conflict or displacement from lands and resources.

HONOLULU (April 10, 2019) -- Several former participants in East-West Center programs have been featured in recent editions of Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list for young entrepreneurs in Asia who are “leveraging business tools to solve the region's problems.”

HONOLULU (Feb. 7, 2020) – The East-West Center has been awarded a five-year grant totaling $50,000 from the Fish Family Foundation in support of the Center’s Changing Faces Women’s Leadership Seminar and #galswithLEI Forum, which collectively seek to enhance women’s leadership skills and entrepreneurial capacity; experientially explore innovative entrepreneurship; build a sense of self-efficacy; and expand national and regional networks.

As a result of the Fish Family Foundation’s funding, the Changing Faces Seminar will now be able to include female business or social entrepreneurs from Japan each year until 2024. The funding will also substantially increase the Center’s ability to include mainland and international speakers in the associated #galswithLEI Forum.

HONOLULU (Feb 25, 2020) -- The East-West Center has rolled out a major update of its affiliated Pacific Islands Development Program, or PIDP, with the launch yesterday of the program’s new website at PIDP.EastWestCenter.org. The new site highlights refocused priorities and new projects following recent user surveys and strategy dialogues with Pacific Islands leaders and stakeholders.