---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2001 13:12:59 EST From: [log in to unmask] Reply-To: [log in to unmask] To: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask] Subject: [wa-afr] [unioNews] Japanese Promise Rigorous Pursuit of African Issues Thema: [unioNews] Japanese Promise Rigorous Pursuit of African Issues Datum: 16.02.01 19:07:00 (MEZ) Mitteleuropäische Zeit From: [log in to unmask] Reply-to: [log in to unmask] To: [log in to unmask] ------------------------------------------------- Japanese Promise Rigorous Pursuit of African Issues Japan's ambassador to the UN, Kiyo Akasaka Thursday said his country intends to vigorously pursue issues that are of pressing importance to Africa within the context of ensuring human security. Akasaka said Japan is currently in the process of developing a more focused and coordinated policy toward Africa. As a follow-up to the visit of the Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshiro Mori to Africa in January, a Japanese official team will soon be going to the continent to explore specific ways to address issues of interest to the region, he announced. "We intend to spend more energy and resources on Africa," he said, explaining further that the general context of Japan's approach will be the promotion of human security, a concept that aims at tackling the problems of human suffering and insecurity. Among the issues that Japan intends to address are the problem of refugees, infectious diseases, poverty, the environment, international crime and drugs. Akasaka said Japan had in 1999 established a Trust Fund for Human Security to address some of these problems. The Fund, he said, will grow to 200 million dollars this year. In addition, he said Japan has initiated a World Commission on Human Security to be co-chaired by the former UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata. The Commission's main goals would be to promote international acceptance of the imperative of human security; develop the concept of human security as a practical tool of foreign policy design and implementation, and identify the critical and pervasive threats to human security and propose programmes to deal with them. The ambassador said Japan is already devoting a lot of resources to areas that matter to Africa such as HIV/AIDS, foreign aid and conflict prevention. Japan, he said, has pledged to spend three billion dollars over the next five years on HIV/AIDS, Malaria and tuberculosis. Most of the money is expected to go to Africa where those diseases are most pronounced, he said. The ambassador explained that the funds would be disbursed through the UN, NGOs and through bilateral channels. He also stressed that Japan has been doing a lot in the area of official development assistance. Saying Japan has been spending 10 billion dollars yearly in foreign aid, the ambassador said other countries also needed to be generous in offering aid to developing countries. While most countries usually tie their aid to their such considerations as its economic and political interests, Akasaka said Japan's aid to Africa is based on the continent's need. The Japanese envoy said his country's approach is to address conflict prevention and support the resolution of conflicts and providing for refugees. Among Japan's efforts in this regard has been the organisation of seminars on conflict prevention and the offering of assistance to African efforts to address its conflicts, such as those in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Burundi. He, however, ruled out the involvement of Japanese troops in peacekeeping, even though the country pays 20 percent of the UN peacekeeping budget, which amounted to 2.5 billion dollars in 2000 and is expected to grow to three billion dolars this year. Japan's post-war policy had forbidden the use of its troops out of the country. PanAfrican News Agency * February 15, 2001 * Jerome Hule * New York / UN lllll QUOTATION: "Only the best is good enough for Africa" - <A HREF="http://members.aol.com/GhanaUnion/afrohero.html">Dr J.E.K. Aggrey</A> llllllllll * //\\//\\ unioNews Newsgroup //\\//\\ * * http://members.aol.com/GhanaUnion * * We're One People * * Join the Chorus * - "Africa Must Unite!" - ============================= A luta Continua! To subscribe to this group, click <A HREF="http://www.yahoogroups.com/subscribe/unioNews">unioNews</A> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [log in to unmask] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-~> eGroups is now Yahoo! Groups Click here for more details http://click.egroups.com/1/11231/1/_/23029/_/982347193/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------_-> Our next meeting is Wednesday, Feb 28, Safeco Center, E Main and 23rd, Seattle 7:00 PM WSAN business meeting 8:00 PM Program: Sara Musa El Saeed, Rural Development/Gender Specialist / Sudan We usually meet the last Wednesday of the month. To post a message: [log in to unmask] To subscribe sending a blank message to [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe send a blank message to [log in to unmask] For complete information on the Washington State Africa Network visit: www.ibike.org/africamatters ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------