SATA Foundtion Website: Highlights of the Annual Reports of the Sata Foundation for the Years 2017

The Sata Foundation continues to promote international rules of law in Asia by awarding annually a Prize, valued at US$2,000, for the best international law essays by Asian international legal scholars under the age of 40. The winning essays are published in the Asian Yearbook of International Law, under the auspices of the Foundation for the Development of International Law in Asia (DILA) [→ Note 1] . The Asian Yearbook informs the world about Asian perspectives on international law that underpins world peace and the international legal order. The Prize, called the ‘Sata Prize' until 2011 and the ‘DILA Prize' thereafter; this serves to enhance the “understanding among peoples of all cultures, religions and beliefs of the value of peace and respect for universally recognized human rights”, which is part of the Sata Foundation's Mission Statement.

Due to the backlog in publishing the Asian Yearbook of International Law, the year for which the winner of the DILA Prize is declared does not correspond to the year the payment is actually made to the Prize winner(s). In 2017, the donation from the Sata Foundation covered the DILA Prize for the year 2013 and the DILA Prize for the year 2014.

The DILA Prize for 2013 is awarded to Professor Tom Temprosa from the Philippines, currently visiting the University of Michigan, for his article "Reflections on a Legal Confluence: International Law in the Philippine Court, 1940—2000". The winner for the 2014 DILA Prize is Mr. Matthew Seet of the University of Singapore, for his article "China's Suspended Death Sentence with a Two-Year Reprieve: Humanitarian Reprieve or a Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment?".

The Banyan Home Foundation (BHF) which operates Ban Rom Sai Children's Home for HIV/AIDS-infected children was set up by Mrs. Miwa Natori from Japan [→ Note 2] .

In 2017, the Sata Foundation made a donation to Ban Rom Sai, a continuation of the Sata Foundation's donation to this charity since 2007. The donation for 2017 went to support the following projects:

(a) Teaching the children to enjoy reading (50 participants per month);
(b) Community sports : table tennis (50 participants), pétanque (50 participants);
(c) Youth football competition (40 participants);
(d) Nature conservation awareness and action for the children at Ban Rom Sai and the local youth (55 participants); and
(e) Practical training on accidents and first-aid help (77 participants).

Thanks to the Sata Foundation's donations during these years, the children at Ban Rom Sai have been accepted and successfully assimilated into the society where they live. For example, several participants have been granted special quotas to study at high schools and vocational training colleges free of costs. Some children who used to live in Ban Rom Sai are now working full-time, while some others of the children are now studying at universities in Chiang Mai Province and nearby Chiang Rai Province in northern Thailand.

Other charities that had previously received donations from the Sata Foundation became successful in raising funds internationally on their own and, as such, no longer relied on donations from a modest charitable foundation like the Sata Foundation. So, the Sata Foundation did not make any donations to these charities in 2017.

Although the Sata Foundation looked forward to giving donations to other worthy causes falling within the Sata Foundation's Mission Statement, none qualified for this purpose in 2017.

After the return of the Madonnagasaki to the Urakami Church on the 60th Anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in August 2005, much of the Sata Foundation's objective relating to the Madonnagasaki has been accomplished. The Sata Foundation will continue to campaign for world peace with the Madonnagasaki as the main inspiration.

In 2005, the Sata Foundation funded the first “Run for Peace” Cycling Rally and related events in France on 6 August 2005 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively) and to promote the humanitarian mission of the Sata Foundation. After the great success of the 1st rally, the Peace Rally is held every year.

In 2017, the Run for Peace Rally was held on Saturday 29 July in Chailly-sur-Armançon, France, (www.courirpourlapaix.com), with 468 cyclists taking part in four circuits: Hiroshima (145 km.), Nagasaki (105 km.), Tohoku (81 km.), and the rando (40 km.).

The Run for Peace Rally for the year 2018 was held on Saturday 28 July 2018 and followed by a charity dinner under the patronage of the Sata Foundation. As a symbol of peace, the dinner guests were requested to wear white. Our guests of honour were the legendary Bernard Hinault and Francesco Moser, two of the most faithful, long time participants in the Rally. The dinner party's main message was to show solidarity with the countries receiving most of the Syrian refugees; namely, Turkey and Lebanon, which have had by far a higher concentration of Syrian refugees per capita than any other country. The presentation by Mr. Münir Isker from Turkey and Mr. Maroun Torbey from Lebanon about the dire situations in their respective countries was very well received by the dinner guests.