Monthly Highlights of Research Activities: The Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai Is Now Open!

From April 13 to October 13, 2025, the Osaka-Kansai Expo is being held on Yumeshima Island in Osaka under the theme “ Designing Future Society for Our Lives .” The Expo brings together 150 countries, 25 international organizations, companies, NGOs, NPOs, and civic groups from around the world to showcase their efforts to design a future society where people can thrive. The Expo will illuminate our path to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and help us envision what lies beyond.

The “ Inochi Forum ”, established in the lead-up to the Expo, has been discussing how to realize a society that leaves no one behind, a core principle of the SDGs. The Expo also explores three sub-themes: Saving Lives, Empowering Lives, and Connecting Lives. These themes resonate with the concept of human security, which emphasizes protecting the lives, livelihoods, and dignity of every individual human being.

At the kick-off symposium held in March 2024, titled “Inochi Forum x ‘SDGs + beyond’ — What We Need to Do Now for the Future ,” JICA President Tanaka Akihiko delivered a keynote speech on Japan’s role in development cooperation, human security, and the SDGs, and the expectations for the Inochi Forum. The outcome of the forum discussions will be shared at the Expo as the “Inochi Declaration.”

JICA Ogata Research Institute continues to disseminate research findings on human security, contributing to people-centered development and development cooperation:

We have been publishing our flagship report series, “Human Security Today,” highlighting the significance of human security in today’s rapidly changing world, since 2022:

We will continue to share our ongoing efforts and findings on human security in the months ahead.