News Headlines

In January, New Year’s prayer meetings were held around the world to usher in 2026, the Year of Vibrant Growth for a Youthful Soka Gakkai Worldwide. On January 1, members in countries including Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, Madagascar, Norway, Portugal, Singapore and the USA gathered to celebrate the start of the New Year.

At the meeting in Frankfurt, General Director of Soka Gakkai in Germany Leonardo Duricic encouraged the participants to utilize dialogue to spread hope throughout society. Speaking at the prayer meeting in São Paulo, General Director of Brazil SGI Miguel Shiratori also encouraged participants to strive to become sources of hope in their communities.

In his New Year’s message to members around the world, carried in the January 2026 issue of the Daibyakurenge monthly magazine, Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada describes Nichiren Buddhism as “a brilliant beacon piercing the darkness of our times” that, like the sun, casts “warm rays of hope” into people’s lives.

From December 9 to 11, Elisa Gazzotti, program coordinator for Human Rights Education of the SGI Office for UN Affairs, participated in the Human Rights Education Forum titled “Unleashing Human Rights - A forum to further universal human rights education for, with and by young people” in Budapest, Hungary. The event was co-organized by the Council of Europe and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) with the support of the SGI (Soka Gakkai International) and other organizations.

On December 11, Amnesty International and the SGI co-organized a workshop featuring the documentary “Changemakers: Stories of Young Human Rights Educators,” which they jointly created with OHCHR. Five of the human rights educators featured in the film shared their activities, and participants discussed topics including the power of art in inspiring youth and ways to extend human rights education to socially marginalized young people.

From December 8 to 10, SGI (Soka Gakkai International) representatives participated in the Regional Humanitarian Partnership Week (RHPW) Asia Pacific 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand. The RHPW aims to bring together humanitarian professionals from the region to share best practices to enhance the efficacy of humanitarian programs and services for communities in need.

At the opening conference, Harumi Endo, program coordinator for Sustainable Development and Humanitarian Affairs of the SGI, introduced a short film on community-based disaster prevention activities conducted by Soka Gakkai members in Japan. Eight other videos showing frontline experience of delivering humanitarian services were also introduced.

On the same day, the SGI co-organized a session titled “From Early Warning to Early Action: Localizing Anticipatory Action in Indonesia and Japan” during which Nobuyuki Asai, director for Sustainable Development and Humanitarian Affairs of the SGI, gave a presentation on the importance human connections play in disaster response.

On December 10, Mr. Asai was a panelist at a session titled “Faith at the Frontlines: Reimagining Humanitarian Action and Climate Migration through Local Faith Actors.” The session was organized by the Asia Pacific Faith-Based Coalition for Sustainable Development of which SGI is a member. He talked about the “Bonds of Hope” concerts that the Soka Gakkai Music Corps have been giving in disaster-stricken areas across Japan since 2011. 

From November 11 to 28, SGI-Sweden organized the “Act for Tomorrow” exhibition at Stockholm University Library, together with the Swedish Pugwash Group, the Swedish Physicians against Nuclear Weapons and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). The exhibition was created to raise awareness about the reality of nuclear weapons, share fact-based insights on humanitarian and environmental risks and highlight the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

On November 19, a panel discussion was held at the same venue as part of the exhibition. Four experts discussed the history, risks and political realities surrounding nuclear weapons in today’s rapidly changing security environment.