HONOLULU (May 4, 2012) – The East-West Center (EWC) has been awarded a contract for $458,276 from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) to provide technical and financial support for the development and refinement of HIV/AIDS Incidence Estimation in the Spectrum software under the guidance of the UNAIDS Reference Group on HIV/AIDS Estimates, Modeling and Projection. Spectrum is a suite of policy models that provide policymakers with analytical tools to support decision making processes.

HONOLULU (May 30, 2012) – Internet information leader Google, telecom provider KT, auto manufacturer Hyundai, international relations insitution the Korea Foundation and the University of Hong Kong’s Journalism and Media Studies Centre have joined the growing list of corporate and foundation sponsors of the East-West Center’s 2012 International Media Conference, scheduled for June 22-24 in Seoul, South Korea. The conference theme is “Networked News: How New Media is Shaping Stories in Asia and the Pacific.”

SEOUL (June 20, 2012) – Several hundred journalists and media experts from more than 100 news organizations in 25 countries will gather in Seoul, South Korea June 22-24 to discuss the latest information on the impact of new and social media on events and news coverage in Asia and the Pacific.

The conference on the theme of “Networked News: How New Media Is Shaping Stories in Asia and the Pacific” will be covered online at a special website, EastWestCenter.org/IMC 2012. Visit the site to see news reports and video of keynote addresses, real-time social media coverage, session summaries and more.

A number of the conference sessions are expected to be streamed live online. Twitter users can also follow live tweets from the conference through the hashtag: #NetNews.

Featured speakers and panelists include:

UHM SPAS Dean Edward Shultz to head EWC’s International Alumni Association Executive Board

HONOLULU (June 20, 2012) – Dr. Edward (Ned) Shultz, Dean of the School of Pacific and Asian Studies (SPAS) at University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) and Assistant Vice Chancellor for International Programs and Exchange, has been named the new president of the East-West Center’s Alumni Association Executive Board. On July 1, 2012, Shultz will succeed former UHM Asian Studies Program Graduate Chair, Dr. Ricardo Trimillos, who had served his term as president and will remain on the board as an ex-officio member.

The 5th annual Summer Institute in International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and Human Rights will take place from 16 to 26 July 2012 in Singapore and focus on the topic of business and human rights.

The Summer Institute is a regionally based workshop held in partnership with organizations in Southeast Asia to consider key IHL and human rights issues, past and present, facing the region. Established in 2008 by the Asian International Justice Initiative, a collaborative project between the East-West Center and the War Crimes Studies Center, the Summer Institute is designed for participants working across a broad range of fields and disciplines within the Asia Pacific region or whose work has an Asia Pacific focus. Previous Summer Institute sessions have attracted lawyers, journalists, government officials, and NGO workers from more than 15 countries.

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 19, 2012) – An international delegation of election observers supported by the U.S. Department of State and organized by the East-West Center’s Pacific Islands Development Program (PIDP) monitored the recent month-long general elections in Papua New Guinea. The mission included election specialists, former government officials, academics and civil society representatives from Australia, the Federated States of Micronesia, Solomon Islands and the United States. The delegation was headed by Dr. Gerard A. Finin, Co-Director of the PIDP.

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, HI (August 24, 2012) — As part of a collaborative project of the Pacific Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments Program coordinated by the East-West Center, the Center for Island Climate Adaptation and Policy (ICAP) at the University of Hawai‘i Sea Grant College Program recently published Climate Change Law and Policy in Hawai‘i, Briefing Sheet, 2012. The report chronicles Hawai'i state efforts to reduce human-caused greenhouse gas emissions and build resiliency to climate change impacts.

“The briefing sheet outlines the great work that has been accomplished thus far; however, there is much more to be done to effectively mitigate and adapt to climate change,” says Malia Nobrega, ICAP Director of Strategic Partnerships.

HONOLULU (Oct. 4, 2012) – Former East-West Center Diplomat-in-Residence Sharon (“Shari”) Villarosa has been confirmed as the new U.S. Ambassador to the Indian Ocean island nations of Mauritius and the Seychelles. Villarosa was nominated to the post by President Obama last fall and confirmed by the Senate on Sept. 22.

Villarosa said at her confirmation hearing that she would work “to increase U.S. exports to (Mauritius’) healthy, thriving market economy,” and to “encourage Seychelles' continued progress in implementing sound political and economic reforms and protecting human rights.  … I hope that we can continue to support the efforts of Seychelles to counter piracy and promote better security in East Africa and the Indian Ocean.”

HONOLULU (Oct. 11, 2012) -- The East-West Center has been awarded $173,000 in funding to study how key climate information spreads across different sectors and countries in the Pacific islands region.

With $148,000 in funding from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and $25,000 from the Department of Interior’s Pacific Islands Climate Science Center, researchers will use the upcoming release of a major Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment report as springboard for collecting data to analyze the flow of climate and fresh water information in Hawai‘i and the U.S.-affiliated Pacific islands.

By tracking information flows, key hubs and isolated groups using network analysis and statistical methods, the researchers plan to map out gaps in the communication and flow of climate information, allowing future projects to focus on areas with less active research and outreach.

Free public seminar at the East-West Center on Fri. Oct. 26
will feature Korea’s Ambassador to the U.S. Y.J. Choi
and U.S. Ambassador to Korea Sung Kim

U.S. Ambassador to Korea Sung Kim and Korea’s Ambassador to the U.S. Y.J. Choi will present a special Ambassadors’ Dialogue on key issues impacting the U.S.-Korea alliance, Fri. Oct. 26, 4:30 – 6 p.m. at the East-west Center’s Imin International Center – Jefferson Hall (across from Kennedy Theatre). The event is open to the public and free of charge. Paid parking is available on the UH Manoa campus.

Two-week New Generation Seminar for rising young leaders from the U.S. and Asia Pacific will focus on middle class issues

HONOLULU (Oct. 25, 2012) -- Eleven young leaders from nine countries have arrived at the East-West Center to begin this year’s New Generation Seminar. The group will travel together to four different U.S. cities to meet with experts on the seminar theme: “The Making of the Middle Class: Successes of the Past, Challenges for the Future.”

After gathering at the EWC in Honolulu for briefings and discussions, the group will travel to Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Washington, DC for field study. The program is supported by funding from the Freeman Foundation.

Participants in this year’s New Generation Seminar include:

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. 14, 2012) – The priority application deadline for the East-West Center's 2013-14 Asia Pacific Leadership Program – considered the premier leadership education program in the Asia Pacific region – is Dec 1, 2012.

From August – December 2013, up to APLP 40 Fellows from around the globe will join regional specialists and leadership educators in a dynamic learning community at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii for this graduate certificate program combining the development of regional expertise with the enhancement of individual leadership capacity. All participants receive a fee-waiver fellowship valued at approximately $15,000.

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 (Feb. 4, 2013) ­–The East-West Center, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of State and the Government of American Samoa, is currently hosting a Future Leaders of the Pacific conference in Pago Pago to address critical issues facing the Pacific Islands region. The February 4-7 gathering has convened about 25 young professionals from across Oceania, along with regional leaders and academic specialists, to focus on trends, issues, and opportunities for collective regional action.

HONOLULU (Feb. 12, 2013) -- More than 90 graduate students from 42 universities in 24 nations are set to gather at the East-West Center this week to present their research at the Center’s 12th annual International Graduate Student Conference. The interdisciplinary gathering, planned and organized by EWC students, is the largest of its kind worldwide. All conference sessions, excluding meals, are free and open to the public.

The three-day conference, which runs Feb. 14-16 at EWC’s Hawai‘i Imin International Conference Center, includes 24 panel sessions in a number of areas focusing on the Asia Pacific region and its interactions with the U.S. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, noted expert on U.S. political campaigns and media, will deliver the conference’s keynote address on Thurs. Feb. 14 at 4:30 p.m., on the topic of “The Deceptions, Distractions and Revelations of the 2012 U.S. Presidential Campaign."

HONOLULU (Feb. 21, 2013) – In the coming year, the East-West Center is planning to conduct two of its signature media exchange programs in Burma (also called Myanmar). It is the first time the Center will be bringing its internationally recognized media seminars to the country, which has recently relaxed its former strict government censorship of the press.

In June, the Center will bring its distinguished Jefferson Fellowships program for Asia Pacific and U.S. journalists to Burma’s main city of Yangon as part of their study tour focusing on leadership changes in Asia Pacific. The journalists will have an opportunity to engage with Yangon's emerging media sector and ­– in another first for the fellowship –­ help provide professional training and regional perspectives to local journalists.

Innovative thinkers from diverse sectors will gather in Yangon on April 26 and 27, 2013, to develop and share scenarios about Myanmar’s economic development to the year 2020 at the first Myanmar Futures Exchange (MFE). Hosted by the Hawaii-based East-West Center, the program will lead participants through a series of risk analyses and scenario-building activities to determine driving forces and game changes that will shape Myanmar’s economic trajectory. The MFE will also feature a panel discussion with local entrepreneurs and prominent speakers, including influential Buddhist teacher, author and charitable works organizer Venerable Sitagu Dr. Nyanissara. 

HONOLULU (May 8, 2013) – The East-West Center has received a grant of $423,975 from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health as part of a project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on “Realizing the Demographic Dividend for Africa.”

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.

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 (Nov. 18, 2013) – The East-West Center’s Board of Governors has elected two new international members: Indian business leader Ratan N. Tata, who is returning to the board after serving several terms between 1993 and 2004, and first-time EWC board member Takeshi Niinami, CEO of Japan’s Lawson, Inc.

Newly elected boardmembers Ratan Tata (left) and Takeshi NiinamiEWC Board of Governors Chair Brian Tsujimura and the other board members, along with Center President Charles E. Morrison, extended a warm welcome to the new members, who were elected to three-year terms, and expressed their sincere gratitude to outgoing member Tarun Das.

HONOLULU (Dec. 3, 2013) -- Five high school students and one teacher from Burma who were recent participants in the Southeast Asia Youth Leadership Program at the East-West Center have won a grant of $7,000 in a project proposal competition sponsored by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, which funds the SEAYLP program.

The EWC program alumni received their award for a proposal to educate the public in the city of Mandalay about environmental issues – with a special focus on outreach to adolescents – and to decrease the amount of litter in the community through clean-ups and placement of recycling bins.

HONOLULU (Feb 11, 2014) – The East-West Center has been awarded a three-year, $750,000 grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to study land-cover and land-use change in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

Over the past half-century these countries have witnessed a major shift from subsistence agrarian economies to commercialized agriculture and, in the case of Thailand and Vietnam, industrialized societies. The project will study transitions in forests, boom crops and urban areas using remote sensing data sources and socioeconomic databases for the 2000-2012 period. The project’s aim is to enhance the conceptual underpinnings of land change science by integrating aspects of global markets, land use and political ecology to explicitly link land changes to local, national and international drivers.

Female Entrepreneurs and Executives from 12 Asia Pacific Nations
Exchange Ideas with Hawai‘i Businesswomen and Students

HONOLULU (July 21, 2014) – A group of women entrepreneurs and senior executives from 12 Asia Pacific countries are currently in Hawai‘i to exchange ideas with local women leaders and students on leadership skills and the global gender gap in innovation and entrepreneurship, in an East-West Center professional exchange presented in partnership with UH Manoa’s Shidler College of Business.

The 13 participants in EWC’s two-week 2014 Changing Faces Women’s Leadership Seminar are focusing on the theme of “Women as Innovators and Entrepreneurs: Generating Job Creation and Strengthening Communities.”  

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

Fundraising Board Also Welcomes Three New Members 

HONOLULU (Aug.19, 2014) – The Board of Directors of the East-West Center Foundation ­­- the Center’s community fundraising arm ­– has selected members Keethe Koyanagi and Shelley Wilson as the board’s new co-chairs. Koyanagi is senior vice president of the Credit Administration Division at First Hawaiian Bank, and Wilson is president of president of Wilson Homecare. Their one-year term as co-chairs began on Aug. 1.

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. 

International group of 15 accomplished journalists will travel together to China,
the Philippines, Singapore and Hawai‘i to study South China Sea conflicts

HONOLULU - (March 19, 2015) -- The East-West Center has announced the selection of 15 accomplished international journalists for its 2015 Jefferson Fellowships travel-study seminar. The journalists from 12 countries and territories will travel together in May to China, the Philippines, Singapore and Hawai‘i to study territorial conflicts, resource issues, environmental concerns and more in the South China Sea. Participants represent a range of top news organizations including the Associated Press, Washington Post, PBS NewsHour, Times of India, Straits Times, Kyodo News and others.

HONOLULU (May 5, 2015) -- The East-West Center has been awarded funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to continue to serve as the lead institution in the Pacific Regional Integrated Science and Assessment (RISA) program, which is designed to help island and coastal communities cope with the effects of climate change. This is the second full program award the Center has received from NOAA, and marks the program’s transition into a new phase.

The $4,099,785 NOAA grant will be shared over a five-year period by a variety of partners in the Pacific RISA program (see list below). The program was established in 2003 and is one of 11 regional RISA programs supported by NOAA across the U.S. The region covered by the Pacific program includes Hawai‘i, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Republic of Palau and American Samoa.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 10, 2015) -- The East-West Center has announced the appointment of six 2015 Asia Studies Fellows at the East-West Center in Washington. The fellowship provides residence of three or six months at the East-West Center in Washington to scholars and analysts who wish to undertake policy-relevant research and writing on topics of relevance to contemporary US-Asia policy, including diplomatic, politico-security, and economic issues.

The following fellows will be in three month-residencies between June and December of this year:

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 (Sept. 3, 2015) – The East-West Center has received a $45,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to launch a series of agenda-setting workshops focusing on the impact of Asia Pacific trade agreements on trade and innovation in the region.

The East-West Center New Challenges for Trade and Innovation Workshop series, headed by EWC Senior Fellows Dieter Ernst and Michael Plummer, will bring together trade economists and experts on innovation, intellectual property rights, competition law, technical standards, and industrial development from the U.S., Asia and Europe.

HONOLULU (Sept. 16, 2015) -- At a gala dinner celebration last night with  550 people in attendance, the East-West center celebrated its 55^th year and honored master traditional navigator Nainoa Thompson with the Center’s Asia Pacific Community Building Award.

“If you’re building an Asia Pacific community, the inspiration comes from an Asia Pacific community, and that’s what we are in Hawai‘i,” said East-West Center President Charles E. Morrison. “There are a lot of inspiring examples in Hawai‘i, and we’re honoring one of the most inspirational tonight, Nainoa Thompson – a great inspiration to our students, a great inspiration to our state, a great inspiration to our island region, the Asia Pacific region and now to the world

HONOLULU (Oct. 2, 2015) – – Donald Sheehan, a 22-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service, has joined the East-West Center as Diplomat-in-Residence. He will be posted at the Center until June 2016.

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

MANILA (Jan. 15, 2016) -- Philippines President Benigno S. Aquino III today addressed about 300 East-West Center alumni and colleagues at the Center’s three-day international alumni conference in Manila, speaking on the conference theme of "Bridging Diverse Cultures towards an Inclusive Asia Pacific Community."

“In bridging the divides between our respective contexts," President Aquino said, "it is my belief that the East-West Center, its fellows, and alumni can play an even greater, more active role by enriching the means by which we communicate, promoting more positive insights about one another, and facilitating a deeper appreciation for both our similarities and diversities.”

Longtime Taiwan IBM executive Gary S.H. Lin donates $300,000
to support EWC student scholarships and arts programs.

HONOLULU (March 14, 2016) – The East-West Center Foundation has received its largest single donation ever from a degree fellow alumnus. Longtime Taiwan IBM executive Gary S.H. Lin, who was a student at the Center in the 1960s, has donated $300,000 to support EWC student scholarships and arts programs. $250,000 of Lin’s gift will establish a scholarship fund to provide awards for one or more students from Taiwan who have an outstanding academic record and financial need, while the remaining $50,000 will provide support for Taiwan-related exhibitions or performances by the East-West Center Arts Program.

International group of 14 accomplished journalists will travel to China, Japan and Hawai‘i to explore the economic future of the Asia-Pacific region.

HONOLULU - (March 23, 2016) -- The East-West Center has announced the selection of 14 accomplished international journalists for its 2016 Jefferson Fellowships travel-study seminar. The print and broadcast journalists from 10 countries and territories will travel together in May to China, Japan and Hawai‘i to gain on-the-ground perspectives, deepen knowledge of regional issues and build a professional network of contacts. Participants represent a range of top news organizations including CNN International, National Public Radio, Times of India, Straits Times and others.

The selected Jefferson Fellows are:

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

WASHINGTON, D.C.(May 11, 2016) - The Asia Matters for America initiative of the East-West Center today launched a new online resource, Asia Reacts, which tracks Asia’s reactions to important developments in U.S.–Asia relations during and after the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The effort will monitor responses of Asian governments, media, and experts.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 20, 2016) -- The East-West Center in Washington, cooperating with Sasakawa USA, is launching a new Congressional  Staff Program on Asia that provides Capitol Hill staff members with an opportunity to engage U.S. officials and leading experts on a range of contemporary, policy-relevant topics in U.S.-Asia relations.

The EWC-Sasakawa USA  Congressional Staff Program on Asia is a bipartisan educational certificate program that will cover issues with implications for Congressional consideration and action and for U.S.-Japan relations

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.