Kijiner pushes ocean issues

At the Sasakawa Peace Foundation’s Cutting Edge Roundtable in Tokyo last week: RMI Embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission Annette Note, Ambassador Tom Kijiner, Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, and Waseda University intern student Steven Kai Chun.
At the Sasakawa Peace Foundation’s Cutting Edge Roundtable in Tokyo last week: RMI Embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission Annette Note, Ambassador Tom Kijiner, Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, and Waseda University intern student Steven Kai Chun.

Marshall Islands Ambassador to Japan Ambassador Tom Kijiner led discussions on Oceans and Seas focusing on fisheries and maritime security during the Sasakawa Peace Foundation’s Cutting-Edge Roundtable held last week in Tokyo, Japan.

The roundtable brought together Pacific Island Ambassadors stationed in Tokyo, representatives from the Japanese government including a current parliament member, and members of the private sector and civil society.

“Sustainable Development Goal 14 is not just a ‘call to action’ to protect our oceans, it is a challenge to reduce poverty, kick-start economic growth and combat man-made climate change for those people whose way of life is entwined with the sea,” said Kijiner.

“We are large ocean states and with that comes great responsibility and an even stronger interest in protecting our ocean environment.”

The roundtable included a special presentation by First Daughter Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, who delivered her famous poems “Tell Them” and “Dear Matafele Peinem.”

Read more about this in the June 23, 2017 edition of the Marshall Islands Journal.