Antonio Meleca, former contributor and current Deputy of the Institute’s Chair of EU-Asia/Pacific Studies, is a Toronto-born Italian-Canadian currently based in Rome. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa at the University of Turin, writing his final dissertation at Saitama University in Japan. Currently, he is earning a master’s degree in International Relations and Institutions of Asia and Africa at the University of Naples L’Orientale. During his first year, he returned to Japan as an EU delegate with the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Youth Engagement MIRAI Program and won a year-long scholarship to study at Sophia University in Tokyo. Unfortunately, his time at Sophia was split in half due to the global pandemic. However, in between his two semesters with the prestigious Japanese university, he gained extensive professional experience; he interned with a European Commission-funded NGO in southern Italy, the United Nations Secretariat in New York, and is currently completing an internship with a UN agency in Rome, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Additionally, he has recently joined the IFAD Youth Network, both as a board member and the communications team Co-Chair.
Antonio speaks English, Italian and Japanese and is passionate about international relations, sustainable development, human rights, and the inclusion of youth, women, and minorities in decision-making.