Pursuing Human-Centered Development: A Video Interview with Dr. Surin Pitsuwan on His Visit to Pakistan

JICA-RI Distinguished Fellow Surin Pitsuwan visited Pakistan from October 1 to 4, 2014. A video interview with Dr. Surin on his visit to Pakistan is now on the JICA-RI website.

Dr. Surin chose to visit the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, where JICA has assisted for many years in the field of education for two reasons; firstly, As Dr. Surin is himself a Thai Muslim and has a deep interest in peace and stability in Muslim societies in Asia secondly, based on his perspective on human security, he attaches importance to inclusive development that takes into account the socially vulnerable, such as women and children.

On November 14, 2014, Dr. Surin reported on his visit to Pakistan at JICA Headquarters. Touching upon Pakistan’s geopolitical importance with its ethnic and religious diversity in a vast terrain, Dr. Surin explained that the human dimensions of development should be considered in order to fully realize the development potential of Pakistan. Dr. Surin emphasized that “human resource development” with focus on education is the most important factor in such endeavors. Thus, he recommended JICA to support human-centered development, thereby realizing human security.

Furthermore, Dr. Surin pointed out that the stability of Muslim societies is a problem not far away for Japan, mentioning the fact that Japan has close economic relations with the ASEAN region, which is home to many Muslims: the issue is closely linked to the economy and peace of Japan and consequently to the stability of the daily lives of its people.

Those insights and comments are also in the interview.