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Foreword by Director
The three years since the establishment of the UNITAR Hiroshima Office for Asia and the Pacific have been intense and challenging but they have also provided many opportunities for learning. As one of our regular resource persons rightly put "teaching is the best way of learning". Indeed the creation of an environment with no distinctions among 'resource persons', 'participants/trainees' or UNITAR staff, as well as relationships of trust and mutual learning that are expanding throughout the region can be regarded as the most significant achievement of our small team. To quote Guan Zhong: "If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years teach the people."
Since 2003, almost 800 experts from the Asia-Pacific region and beyond have come to Hiroshima to participate in our training activities. Many of them have been deeply impressed by the experience, marked as Hiroshima is by great contrasts - devastation and recovery, tragedy and hope, sombre reflection and modern prosperity. Hiroshima is a place where all have the opportunity to open their hearts and minds to thoughts, meditation, prayer and action, to remember our common humanity and what we live for. And open hearts and minds naturally enhance the process of learning.
Hiroshima's experience of reconstruction is as long as the history of the United Nations. In the last 60 years, people in this city have made great efforts to recreate it both as a social/commercial centre, and as a powerful symbol of a people's desire for peace. This is the context within which UNITAR works - Hiroshima inspires us to continue to convey its message throughout all of our activities.
Nassrine Azimi Director, UNITAR Hiroshima Office December 2006
2003-08 United Nations Institute for Training and Research. All Rights Reserved. |
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