Rev. Kyoichi Sugino joined RfP International Secretariat in 1999 and was appointed as Deputy Secretary General in 2011 at the International Executive Committee meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco. Rev. Sugino assists the Secretary General in the organization’s overall management and governance and coordinates RfP’s affiliated interreligious councils, women and youth networks worldwide.

Rev. Sugino has been directly engaged in multi-religious diplomacy and track-II negotiations in Iraq, Syria, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and other conflict zones (“Peace on Earth: An interview with Rev. Kyoichi Sugino” by THE CONSULUS.)

As an engaged Buddhist leader, he has worked with senior-most leaders across various streams and co-authored a historic Yogyakarta Statement on Shared Values and Commitments. (Huffington Post, “Buddhist, Muslim Leaders Push for Peace in Conflict Areas”) to overcome violent extremism and advance common action for peace.

Rev. Sugino received his LL.B from Chuo University in Tokyo (1989) and M.L.I. in International Law and International Human Rights Law from the University of Wisconsin (1993). Earlier in his career, he served as policy research officer at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva (1996-1998) and published a well-cited article on a historical perspective of the role of humanitarian agencies in complex emergencies (The “Non-Political and Humanitarian” Clause in UNHCR’s Statute. Refugee Survey Quarterly, UNHCR/Oxford University Press, Volume17, no.1 [1998]).

He is an ordained Dharma Teacher in Rissho Kosei-kai–a major Japanese Buddhist denomination–having graduated from Gakurin Buddhist Seminary in Tokyo (1991).