Long before the opening of UNITAR’s regional office for Asia and the Pacific in Hiroshima in August 2003, Hiroshima University[1] was already one of the Institute's most important partners.  Now after almost five years of extended cooperation, an  Agreement on Academic and Scientific Cooperation was signed on 23 October 2006.

The main purpose of the Agreement is to expand the current cooperation and strengthen the involvement of the University in programmes organized by UNITAR’s Hiroshima Office and to generally promote international academic and scientific exchange.

In its six main fields of activity[2], focusing on the 50 countries of Asia-Pacific region (mainly developing countries), UNITAR, as the United Nations organization with a mandate for capacity building, has been active in promoting the message and reconstruction experience of Hiroshima by means of organizing training events.  As partners, UNITAR and Hiroshima University will have special focus on research and training related to peace, reconstruction, environment and natural resources as well as education.  

[1] Hiroshima University has the second largest student body in Japan (about 16,500 students) and ranks 10th in Japan in terms of academic output. The University offers the opportunity for study over an exceptionally wide range of subjects in ten Faculties and eleven Graduate Schools, covering almost all academic levels from continuing education through to doctorates and higher professional qualifications. Hiroshima University is a leading international center of excellence, and one of the largest and most successful research universities in Japan. Researchers at Hiroshima University continue to carry out cutting-edge research across a broad range of disciplines and many are at the forefront of current advances in science and technology.

[2] Post-conflict reconstruction, international peacekeeping and peace-building, management and conservation of the world’s natural and cultural treasures, international economics and finance, sea and human security, training methodologies and training of trainers.