Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies (GSICS), Kobe University
The 36th Annual Conference of the Japan Society for International Development (JASID) was held at Hiroshima University from Saturday, November 29 to Sunday, November 30, 2025. Under the theme “Envisioning Peace and Development: Dialogues for the Future,” the conference featured a wide range of sessions, including a plenary session, 66 oral presentations, 16 roundtables, 6 organized sessions, and 34 poster presentations. From the Ogawa Seminar, one alumnus presented at an oral session, and a total of eight members, including one alumnus, four doctoral students, and three master’s students, presented their research in the poster session.
We are delighted to announce that Mr. Kohei Uno, a doctoral student, received the “Outstanding Poster Presentation Encouragement Award.” His poster, titled “Heterogeneous Effects of Pre-primary Education on Child Development Outcomes in Bangladesh: Insights from Project Data and Application of Causal Forest Analysis,” analyzed randomized controlled trial data from the World Bank early childhood education program in Bangladesh. Using machine learning techniques, he identified which groups of children benefit the most from pre-primary education. His findings show that children from poorer households and those with limited learning opportunities at home experienced greater improvements across all developmental domains, such as literacy, numeracy, socio-emotional skills, and motor skills. Children with mid-to-lower initial ability levels were found to benefit the most. This study provides causal evidence that high-quality pre-primary education can help reduce early developmental disparities in low- and middle-income countries.
In addition, the book “Towards Ensuring Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education for All: Analyzing School Enrolment Patterns”, authored by Professor Takeshi Sekiya from Kwansei Gakuin University, Professor Keiichi Ogawa from Kobe University, Professor Yuto Kitamura from The University of Tokyo, and Associate Professor Akemi Ashida from Nagoya University, received the “Special Award of the Prize Selection Committee.” JASID annually presents awards to outstanding books and articles that contribute to research and public understanding of international development issues.
The first day of the conference opened with remarks by Professor Masaru Ichihashi of Hiroshima University, the conference chair. Later that day, a regular oral session entitled “School Culture and Educational Inequality: Institutions, Rights, and Diversity from the Field,” chaired by Professor Keiichi Ogawa from Kobe University, was held. This session featured diverse presentations on teacher deployment in Burkina Faso, school culture and teacher motivation in Malawian community day secondary schools, the right to education as examined through media coverage of school arson cases in Kenya, and access to higher education for refugees in Malaysia. In addition to expert comments by the chair and discussants, lively questions and discussions from the floor contributed to a highly enriching session that deepened understanding of educational inequality and diversity from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. A reception was held after the first day’s program, providing valuable opportunities for networking with researchers and practitioners from various institutions.
On the second day, the plenary session, titled “Business for Peace: Corporate Contributions to Peacebuilding,” featured keynote speeches by Mr. Makoto Goda, President of Japan Plant Fuel Co., Ltd., and Mr. Naoyuki Ochiai from JICA. The session stimulated lively discussion among participants on the potential roles that corporations can play as actors for peace.
The students and alumni from the Ogawa Seminar presented their research findings on the following topics:
(Oral Presentation)
(Poster Presentation)
The next JASID Spring Conference is scheduled to be held at Meiji Gakuin University in June 2026.
Authored by Yudai Ishii (Doctoral Student)
