From APPRA to IPRA Leadership 1990-2012
During this period several APPRA members played important roles in the International Peace Research Association. Three APPRA Secretary Generals were elected to key positions in the International Peace Research Association. In 1994 Kevin Clements became president of IPRA and of the IPRA Foundation. In 1998 Katsuya Kodama was elected IPRA vice-president (1998-2002). Both Yoshikazu Sakamoto and Katsuya Kodama have served as IPRA Secretary-General.
Mary Soledad L. Perpinan was a founding co-convenor of the IPRA Commission for Women and Peace (now Gender and Peace); and John Synott was one of the founding co-convenors of the Commission for the Rights of Indigenous People. Both of these commissions continue to have strong involvement from APPRA members. In addition Ralph Summy and John Synott, both APPRA members, were organizers of the 1996 IPRA conference in Brisbane. This first IPRA conference in the Asia-Pacific region was followed by the 19th IPRA general meeting in Suwon, Korea, in 2002. Since that time the IPRA 2010 conference was held at University of Sydney, Australia and the 2012 conference will be held once more in Japan at Mie University. Professor Katsuya Kodama was elected as joint Secretary-General of IPRA in 2010 and will host the 2012 conference.
These activities show that peace researchers from Asia have played important roles in the international community of peace researchers and that Asia has become an important center of international peace research activities.
History and Evolution of Asia-Pacific Peace Research Association (APPRA)