News Headlines

On February 24, the Seikyo Shimbun reported the completion of a reforestation project in Togo led by the African Women’s Network for Community Management of Forests (REFACOF) and supported by the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) and the Soka Gakkai. The four-year project promoted environmental sustainability and women’s empowerment through training in agroforestry. Some 150 women participated in the project, cultivating more than 72,000 tree seedlings and restoring 43 hectares of forest land. In recognition of these efforts, the project was awarded the Best Community Forest Regeneration Prize by the government of Togo. Learn more about this initiative and a similar reforestation project in the Republic of Benin.     

On February 8, SGI-Slovenia held a meeting in Ljubljana, the country’s capital. During the meeting, Barbara Volkar was appointed as the new chapter leader. Robert Harrap, SGI Europe cochair, and Robert Samuels, vice cochair, attended the meeting. Mr. Harrap expressed his hope that each person would foster courage and hope in those around them.

On January 31, the exhibition “Senzatomica: Transforming the Human Spirit for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons” opened at the Refectory of the Santa Maria Novella complex in Florence, Italy. Created by Senzatomica, a youth-led nuclear disarmament campaign started by Soka Gakkai Italy, the exhibition has so far drawn over 10,000 visitors in Florence. In her speech at the opening ceremony, ICAN Executive Director Melissa Parke spoke of the significance of the holding of the exhibition in 2025, the year in which the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will be marked. The exhibition will run until March 23, 2025.