Stanford University's Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) is pleased to invite nominations for the 2026 Shorenstein Journalism Award. The award, which carries a cash prize of US$10,000, recognizes outstanding journalists and news media outlets for excellence in covering the complexities of the Asia-Pacific region. The 2026 award will honor a Western news media outlet or a journalist whose substantial body of work has primarily appeared in Western news media. APARC welcomes award nomination submissions from news editors, publishers, scholars, news outlets, journalism organizations, and entities focused on researching and analyzing the Asia-Pacific region. Entries are due by February 15, 2026.

The award defines the Asia-Pacific region broadly as including Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, and Australasia. Both individual journalists with a considerable body of work and news media outlets are eligible for the award. Nominees’ work may be in traditional forms of print or broadcast journalism and/or in new forms of multimedia journalism. The Award Selection Committee oversees the judging of nominees and is responsible for selecting honorees.

An annual tradition since 2002, the award honors the legacy of Mr. Walter H. Shorenstein, APARC's benefactor, and his twin passions for promoting excellence in journalism and understanding of Asia. Throughout its history, the award has recognized world-class journalists and news media who push the boundaries of coverage of the Asia-Pacific region and champion press freedom and human rights.

Recent honorees include Netra News, Bangladesh's premier public interest journalism outlet; Chris Buckley, the New York Times' chief China correspondent; The Caravan, India’s esteemed magazine of long-form journalism; Emily Feng, then NPR's Beijing correspondent; and Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa, CEO and president of the Philippines-based news organization Rappler. Visit the award page to learn more.

Award nominations are accepted electronically through Sunday, February 15, 2026, at 11:59 PM PST.  Visit the award nomination entry page for information about the nomination procedures and to submit an entry.

APARC will announce the winner by May 2026.

Please direct all inquiries to aparc-communications@stanford.edu.

The State Great Hural (Parliament) of Mongolia, along with co-hosts Stanford University’s Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) and the Ban Ki-moon Foundation For a Better Future, announced today the convening of the second annual Trans-Altai Sustainability Dialogue to stimulate cooperative action toward achieving the United Nations-adopted 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on April 25-26, 2024, this gathering will focus on expediting action advancing peace, justice, and strong institutions — the vision captured in Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG 16) of the Agenda’s underlying 17 SDGs.

The Trans-Altai Sustainability Dialogue is a subregional convening of the Trans-Pacific Sustainability Dialogue, a joint initiative of the Ban Ki-moon Foundation and Shorenstein APARC held annually to scale action on the SDGs by activating new research and policy partnerships between experts from the United States and Asia and between governments and non-state actors. This year’s second annual Trans-Altai Sustainability Dialogue builds on networks and partnerships established at the June 2023 inaugural subregional Dialogue, which focused on promoting gender equality (SDG 5). This year, the subregional convening aims to provide a substantive platform for engagement on SDG 16, facilitating the exchange of best practices and policies to strengthen the capacity of local, state, and global institutions to reduce conflict and inequalities, enhance justice accessibility, and promote fair governance.

The vision encompassed in SDG 16 is at the core of the 2030 Agenda: that of a world anchored in commitments to promote more peaceful societies, provide access to justice for all, and build accountable, inclusive institutions at all levels. The embedding of SDG 16 in the 2030 Agenda acknowledges that peace, justice, and inclusion are necessary conditions for global development. Nevertheless, having crossed the midway point in the implementation period of the 2030 Agenda, none of the targets of SDG 16 are on track. Available data disconcertingly show stagnation, or even reversal of gains on SDG 16 targets related to violence reduction, access to justice, inclusive governance, and peaceful societies.

That is why the Trans-Altai Sustainability Dialogue sets out to tackle the imperative to share successful actionable approaches to achieving SDG 16 indicators and identify strategies to propel its implementation forward over the next seven years.

The first day of the gathering, held at the State Palace of the Parliament of Mongolia, will consist of multiple panels featuring government officials, academics, civil society experts, and industry leaders from the United States and across Asia. Keynote speakers and panelists will discuss lessons learned from initiatives addressing structural social injustices; evaluate strategies for building accountable and inclusive institutions for sustainable development; consider opportunities for strengthening the participation of developing countries in global governance through digitalization; and examine the role of international organizations in achieving SDG 16.

Headliners include Ban Ki-moon, the 8th secretary-general of the United Nations and chairman of the Ban Ki-moon Foundation For a Better Future; Zandanshatar Gombojav, chairman of Mongolia’s Parliament; Nurlanbek Shakiev, speaker of the Kyrgyz Republic’s Parliament; Lezsák Sándor, deputy speaker of Hungary’s National Assembly; Rakhmetova Assem Kalashbaeva, member of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan; and Gi-Wook Shin, the William J. Perry Professor of Contemporary Korea at Stanford and director of APARC. Panelists hail from the United States and multiple regions across Asia, including Azerbaijan, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan.

“Indeed, Goal 16 is the golden thread that weaves through the whole fabric of the SDGs. As such, attaining Goal 16 requires a genuinely inclusive multi-stakeholder partnership where everyone participates, works, and shares the benefits together,” notes Mr. Ban Ki-moon. “In this regard, I believe this event of the Second Trans-Altai Sustainability Dialogue will contribute to resonating with the essential spirit of SDGs; inclusiveness.”

“As we look to galvanize the resources needed to expedite action on SDG 16, the Trans-Altai Sustainability Dialogue offers the multi-stakeholder convening force needed to identify which SDG 16 targets resonate most in a regional context and can drive advancements across national constituencies,” says Gi-Wook Shin. “We are pleased to see this convening, the result of our broader Sustainability Dialogue initiative, establishing itself as a thriving subregional platform for implementing a global development agenda and excited for our continued collaboration with the Ban Ki-moon Foundation and our partners in Mongolia.”

Recognizing the role of subregional frameworks and networks in translating development policies into concrete actions at the national level, the first day of the convening will also include parallel sessions that will delve into strategies for promoting peace, justice, and inclusion through Altai Studies. These sessions will address issues including Central Asian and Mongolian perspectives of democratic transition and current trends in the studies of Altai history, languages, and culture. The second day of the dialogue will be dedicated to a field excursion and cultural events designed to foster a dynamic and inclusive atmosphere conducive to stimulating brainstorming and idea sharing for future collaborations.

Please visit the Mongolian Parliament’s website and Facebook page for more information about the conference and live updates.

About the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
The Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) addresses critical issues affecting the countries of Asia, their regional and global affairs, and U.S.-Asia relations. As Stanford University’s hub for the interdisciplinary study of contemporary Asia, APARC produces policy-relevant research, provides education and training to students, scholars, and practitioners, and strengthens dialogue and cooperation between counterparts in the Asia-Pacific and the United States. Founded in 1983, APARC is home to a community of distinguished academics and practitioners in government, business, and civil society specializing in cross-Asia-Pacific trends. For more, visit aparc.stanford.edu.

About the Ban Ki-moon Foundation For a Better Future
The Ban Ki-moon Foundation For a Better Future follows and further develops the achievement and philosophy of Ban Ki-moon, the 8th Secretary General of the United Nations through upholding the values of unification, communication and co-existence, and dedication. It promotes three pillars of the UN, including peace and security, development, and human rights, and contributes to making a better future devoid of conflict and deficiency. In particular, the Ban Ki-moon Foundation actively collaborates with the UN, international organizations, and stakeholders toward achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and realizing the 2050 carbon net-zero of all state parties of the 2015 Paris Climate Accord. For more, visit eng.bf4bf.or.kr/.

Media Contact
Journalists interested in covering the Trans-Altai Sustainability Dialogue should contact Enkh-Undram Bayartogtokh, Chief of Staff for the Chairman of The State Great Hural (Parliament) of Mongolia, at enkhundram@parliament.mn. For further information on the convening, please contact Cheryll Alipio, Shorenstein APARC’s Associate Director for Program and Policy at calipio@stanford.edu.