Research Interest：
- Education Development, Economics of education, Female Education, Education for Refugee, Middle East
Education：
- Master of Economics, Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies, Kobe University (Expected: March, 2026)
- Bachelor of Global and Regional Studies, Doshisha University (March, 2024)
- Exchange Student, University of Bergen (August, 2022-June, 2023)
Experiences：
- Japanese Participant Youth, Ship for World Youth(2023), International Youth Exchange Program, Japanese Cabinet Office (August, 2023-February, 2024)
- Food Ribbon Project, Public relations (March, 2023-)
- UN Students’ Association Bergen Event Planner (August, 2022-June, 2023)
- Save the Children Norway(Redd Barna) Volunteer (January, 2022-June, 2023)
- International NGO ViVID staff and project manager (single mother support in Republic of Ghana) (November, 2021-June, 2022)
- General Affairs Manager, The 22nd Kansai Model United Nations Conference (October, 2021-August, 2022)
Publications：
- N/A
Academic Associations：
- N/A
Academic Conference Presentation：
- N/A
Language/ Skills：
- English, Japanese(Native)
- Microsoft Office（Word, Excel, Powerpoint)
Message to Potential Candidates to Ogawa Seminar：
My name is Kyoko Okamoto, and I entered GSICS in April 2024. A few encounters in my life had a deep impact on me which led me to decide to pursue a career in international cooperation. Two specific encounters stand out as the most impactful. The first is the video interviews about ‘child labour’ in Ghana, which I watched during my childhood and it deeply resonated with me. While the second being, learning about a Japanese woman running an orphanage in Cambodia on TV when I was in junior high school. Consequently, these encounters inspired me to join the Ogawa Seminar. Joining the Ogawa Seminar was of great pleasure and honor to me. Here, I can seize the opportunity to achieve a career in the field of educational development.
I am currently keenly interested in girls’ education and education for refugees, particularly in the Middle East. This interest was sparked by my experience of representing the delegation of Afghanistan at the All Japan Model UN Conference and meeting friends with refugee backgrounds when I was an exchange student in Norway. As an undergraduate, I studied issues in the international community with a focus on Europe. For my graduation thesis, I combined my interests with Europe and wrote about Islamophobia in Norway.
Although I have only been here for a short time, I feel that the Ogawa Seminar offers plenty of opportunities for students who want to contribute to the world in the field of educational development to achieve their goals. I have learned a lot from the experienced and active senior students as well. If you want to make an effort to achieve your goals in the field of educational development, the Ogawa Seminar is waiting for you!
