https://us20.campaign-archive.com/?u=a95b347fa485bbf2183d2e4dd&id=3b6329b6de

With the theme, “Empowered and Emboldened for Impact,” this year’s UNA-USA Global Engagement Summit was held on Feb. 17 in the General Assembly Hall at the UN headquarters in New York. The topics discussed at the summit included fortifying the US-UN relationship, delivery of humanitarian aid, protecting human rights, meeting sustainable development goals, and maintaining international peace and security.
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As a civil society organization supporting and participating in UN NGO platforms, ESJF supports and works with the International Alliance of Women (IAW), USA-UNA, and NGO the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). 

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​On Feb. 10, Sung taught a class at Lowell High School in San Francisco on the topic of the impacts of civic engagement on local history. By examining the Osaka mayor terminating sister-city ties with San Francisco in 2018, students were engaged in the discussion, which highlighted the civic engagement in both Osaka and San Francisco. The discussion also covered the collective efforts to preserve the history of “comfort women,” advance women’s human rights, and counter all forms of sexual and gender-based violence.  

ESJF is delighted to announce the results of the 2022 ESJF Chiba Elementary and Middle School Student Art Competition. At ESJF’s second student art contest at Chiba Korean Elementary and Middle School in Japan, four 9th grade students’ artwork, using only black ink, were selected--A Road to Our Common Ideal, With One Button, Holding Hands for a Peaceful World and Things to Leave Behind. To read the artists’ notes on their paintings, click here. Like many Korean schools in Japan, this school has been experiencing state-sanctioned educational injustices based on ethnicity. To learn about Chiba Korean Elementary and Middle School, click here. 

​https://mailchi.mp/f2ca3b0161e8/2022-year-in-review?e=9909c84291

ESJF welcomes the Respect for Marriage Act being signed into law, which codifies the protection of same-sex marriage. 
Watch live: Biden signs marriage equality bill, The Hillhttps://thehill.com/homenews/3773207-watch-live-biden-signs-marriage-equality-bill/

​Director Chanyu Ko (see below for his brief bio and his first documentary) released his second documentary, We are Human! (ワタシタチハニンゲンダ!) Using the decades-old unjust policy forced on Korean descendants living in Japan as a background, this documentary exposes the abusive practice of Japan’s policy on undocumented people from multiple countries, including the Philippines, Brazil, India, Ghana, Iran, Nigeria, and Cambodia. At various immigration bureaus in Japan, many are faced with a violation of human rights and negligence, often resulting in death and trauma. Centered on the universal declaration of human rights, that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, this documentary lifts the voices of those who believe in and are fighting to protect this fundamental principle. The film is being played in theaters in Japan and will be played at the Pusan Peace Film Festival from Oct. 27–30.
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Director Chanyu Ko provided ESJF with a Vimeo URL so that interested people can watch this film for free. Contact Sung at sung@e4sjf.org if you’d like to view this documentary.
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About Director Chanyu Ko, 髙 賛侑
Chanyu Ko is a lecturer at Sonoda Women’s University, Director of Life Image Work, and an executive member of Freedom Journalist Club in Japan. Throughout his career in academia, Ko has published books on educational injustice based on racial discrimination. He decided to make his first documentary Korean Schools in Japan (アイたちの学校, 아이들의 학교, 2018) when, on Sept. 13, 2017, a Tokyo court ruled to deny tuition waivers to students at Korean high schools in Tokyo despite the fact that tuition waivers cover most high schools in the country. On Oct. 30, 2018, a Japanese high court finalized its ruling in favor of the Japanese government’s decision to exclude Korean schools from the tuition waiver program. Ko made this film hoping to raise awareness about state-organized educational discrimination in Japan. 

Photo credit: Soon Duk Woo

https://mailchi.mp/95d930e26b2d/august-and-september-newsletter?e=[UNIQID]

​On Sept. 20, as a guest lecturer, Sung Sohn discussed preserving the history of the Japanese military sexual slavery system in the face of opposition at a University of San Francisco graduate seminar. Russ Lowe, ESJF co-founder who was actively involved in the San Francisco “comfort women” memorial installation, shared the background on selecting the memorial site. During the discussion, examples of a pan-Asian effort were mentioned and emphasized. Discussion participants’ insightful comments and questions made the seminar thoroughly engaging.