First, I would like to
congratulate you, Sir, on assuming the presidency of
the General Assembly at its sixty-eighth session.
I would now like to make a new pledge about
the situation in Syria. The use of chemical weapons
has caused profound shock and anger on the part
of the people of Japan, including myself. Chemical
weapons must never be used again. I hereby declare
that Japan will provide thorough support to, and the
greatest possible cooperation with, the international
community’s efforts to dispose of Syria’s chemical
weapons. We feel righteous indignation about innocent
civilians continuing to be victims. Japan regards the
cessation of violence, the initiation of political dialogue
and the improvement of the appalling humanitarian
conditions as issues of the utmost urgency.
At this very moment, the number of refugees
is soaring. To them, Japan will provide still greater
assistance. We will act in cooperation with the
international community to extend a helping hand
to internally displaced persons and refugees fleeing
across national borders. I take pride in the fact that
Japan’s non-governmental organizations and volunteer
organizations are working around the clock to help
them.
Japan will also continue to provide assistance to
areas under the control of the opposition groups, where
it is difficult for assistance from the international
community to reach. We are working to undertake the
training of staff working at medical centres. We will
also deliver portable X-ray devices and other medical
equipment to those areas.
With the escalating despair of refugees now as
they head for a harsh winter, I would like to announce
that the Government of Japan will provide and make
immediately available approximately $60 million in
additional humanitarian assistance to Syria and its
surrounding countries. We are determined to conduct
such assistance in parallel with the process of political
dialogue, notably the “Geneva II” conference, and to
move forward in cooperation with the international
community.
Our nation, Japan, and its capital, Tokyo, have
been granted the honour of hosting the 2020 Olympic
and Paralympic Games, seven years from now. To
reciprocate that good fortune we have come to enjoy, my
obligation first of all is to rebuild the Japanese economy
to be vibrant, and then to make Japan a dependable
force that works for good in the world. I pledge here
that I will make Japan a force for peace and stability
in the world, just as it has been until now — or, rather,
make it an even greater such force than it has been thus
far, given the increasingly tragic state of the globe.
Japan will newly bear the flag of proactive
contributor to peace, anchored in the undeniable record
of and the solid appreciation for our country, which has
endeavoured to bring peace and prosperity to the world
while emphasizing cooperation with the international
community.
The balance of power in the world has been
changing rapidly, and technological innovations are
now removing all borders from both new opportunities
and new types of threats. It is now impossible for any
one country, no matter which one it may be, to safeguard
its own peace and security acting entirely by itself.
That is why Japan is working to garner trust from the
world as a creator of added value and a net contributor
to regional and global peace and stability. Under those
circumstances, the role of the United Nations will
become even more important than it is today.
Japan has continually promoted the concept of
human security, and the implications of the concept will
surely expand. Through the accumulated discussions
over the nine years since the submission of a report
by the Commission on Human Security, the resolution
on a common understanding on the notion of human
security was adopted, here at the General Assembly,
in September 2012 (resolution 66/290). Guided by the
wisdom of its forerunners, Japan is determined to
further spread the concept and build actual practices.
I will enable Japan, as a proactive contributor to
peace, to be even more actively engaged in United
Nations collective security measures, including
peacekeeping operations. I believe that Japan must
continually cultivate our human resources so that they
are appropriate for use in United Nations activities.
For Japan, whose national interests are firmly
connected to the stability of open seas, changes to the
maritime order through the use of force or coercion
cannot be condoned under any circumstances. Japan
has great expectations that public spaces, ranging
from outer space and cyberspace to the skies and the
seas, will be rigorously preserved as global commons
governed by rules and laws.
Japan, as a country that understands the horror and
devastation wrought by atomic bombs, will utterly devote
itself to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation and
the total elimination of nuclear weapons. North Korea’s
nuclear and missile development cannot be condoned.
Japan also maintains serious concerns with respect to
other weapons of mass destruction that North Korea is
likely to possess. Pyongyang should listen to the unified
voice of the international community and rectify its
own actions by taking a tangible step. We demand that
North Korea return every Japanese national whom it
has abducted, without exception. While in office, I
am determined to resolve that issue completely. The
normalization of diplomatic relations with North Korea
remains unthinkable without the resolution of that
issue.
As for the nuclear issue of Iran, Japan hopes that
the country’s new Administration will move forward
with concrete actions. We are ready to continue to play
a role in resolving the issue.
In the Middle East region, a cornerstone for world
peace and prosperity, Japan will continue its unique
contributions towards the Middle East peace process.
Japan will also continue to extend cooperation to
the countries of Africa, which are certain to become a
growth engine in the twenty-first century. Firmly rooted
in our own experiences, that cooperation takes the
fostering of human resources as its main emphasis and
seeks to achieve sustainable growth while cultivating
ownership by Africa itself. In June, my Government
invited African Heads of State and Government and
representatives of international organizations to
Japan, where it convened the fifth Tokyo International
Conference on African Development (TICAD V). On
that occasion, I was deeply struck by the eagerness
expressed by representatives of African nations for
private sector investment.
Investment flow to Africa now exceeds the flow
of assistance. I also heard from the African leaders
time and again that assistance should be utilized
strategically as a catalyst for attracting investment.
That is the evolution that discussions in the 20-year-
long TICAD process have witnessed and given rise to.
TICAD V became a forum where we celebrated the
path that Africa has walked down, and together we
reconfirmed that Japan has been an enduring partner
weaving dreams side by side with Africa.
I hold the firm conviction that the future course
of Japan’s diplomacy will begin here, by sparing
no pains — and with our regained strength and
capacity — to become actively engaged in meeting the
historic challenges that today’s world faces. I consider
“sparing no pains” to be nothing less than the basso
continuo notes that set the basic tone for Japan’s actions,
be they in diplomacy or any other field.
As a country with such intentions, strengths and
achievements, Japan considers it extremely regrettable
that the structure of the Security Council is still frozen
in a state that reflects the realities of some 70 years ago.
Security Council reform must proceed without delay.
Japan’s aspirations to becoming a permanent member
of the Council have not changed in the slightest.
Everything begins with Japan refortifying its true
abilities and its economy. The growth of Japan will
benefit the world. Japan’s decline would be a loss for
people everywhere. How, then, does Japan aim to
realize its growth? Mobilizing the power of women will
serve as both a source and outcome of growth, a point
almost self-evident at this gathering.
There is a theory called “womenomics”, which
asserts that the more the advancement of women
in society is promoted, the more growth increases.
Creating an environment in which women find it
comfortable to work and enhancing opportunities for
women to work and to be active in society is no longer
a matter of choice for Japan. It is instead a matter of the
greatest urgency.
Having declared my intention to create a society
in which women shine, I have been working to change
Japan’s domestic structures. However, that is not
confined merely to domestic matters. I would now
like to discuss how it is also an issue guiding Japan’s
diplomacy. To begin with, I would like to state four
contributions through which Japan aspires to remain a
leading member within the international community.
First, Japan respects the activities of UN-Women
and intends to become one of its leading contributors,
and therefore an exemplary country in that area. Japan
will also work closely with the relevant international
organizations.
Secondly, as other like-minded countries have
already done, Japan also intends to develop a national
action plan with regard to women, peace and security,
in cooperation with people working at the grass-roots
level.
Thirdly, Japan will cooperate closely with not
only UN-Women, but also the International Criminal
Court and the Office of the Special Representative of
the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict,
Ms. Zainab Hawa Bangura. It is an outrage that there
continues to be sexual violence against women during
times of armed conflict even now, in the twenty-first
century. Japan will do everything possible to prevent
such crimes against women and to support — both
materially and psychologically — those people who
unfortunately become victims of such acts.
Fourthly, Japan will submit once more at the next
session of the Commission on the Status of Women
a draft resolution that gives careful consideration to
women in natural disasters, as they are likely to be
vulnerable. Japan, which experienced a major natural
disaster two years ago, wishes to garner support for
the draft resolution, which embodies our outpouring of
support for the matter.
I would now like to make use of the examples
of three individuals to clarify Japan’s development
concept aimed at bringing about a society in which
women shine, and also to shed light on some issues that
must be tackled. I will first introduce the examples of
a Japanese woman and a Bangladeshi woman, and then
that of an Afghan woman, as the third example.
Ms. Tokiko Sato was an expert at the Japan
International Cooperation Agency, responsible for
improving maternal, newborn and child health for
over 15 years in a remote village in Jordan. Undaunted
by the suspicious looks she initially received from
the villagers, Ms. Sato would speak with anyone,
anywhere. Devoted to her ideas, including making
use of public entertainment to persuade the villagers,
Ms. Sato finally found herself accepted by the village
community. Ms. Sato’s tenacity gradually transformed
the traditional idea that the one who decides the number
of children is the husband, not the wife, into a mindset
that values the health of women.
As the Assembly is aware, my country played
a leading role in the establishment of the the Global
Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Japan
intends to continue to make an appropriate contribution
at the upcoming Fourth Replenishment, which seeks to
secure additional financing for the Fund. However, as
for the post-2015 development agenda, it would be most
appropriate to broaden the focus to encompass those
diseases individually.
Japan regards approaches that address individuals
holistically as better able to meet their broader health
needs. That is why Japan decided to promote universal
health coverage — “UHC — on the occasion of TICAD
V. To address health issues in the African region,
we have readied $500 million and are at present
concentrating on setting up training for 120,000 health
and medical services providers. With regard to medical
care for all, there can be no doubt that the people who
give the human touch to the three letters in “UHC” are,
in concrete terms, people like Ms. Sato, who without
hesitation go into local communities.
The second person I would like to introduce is
Ms. Nilufa Yeasmin, a young Bangladeshi woman and
the mother of two. Her professional title is “Poly-Glu
Lady”. Poly-Glu is a made-in-Japan water purifier
derived from a food that can be found in Japan in great
abundance. One simply adds it to turbid water. Poly-Glu
acts as an adsorbent, adhering to excess substances in
the water, and then falls to the bottom as a precipitate,
leaving the water clear. It is necessary to teach people
how to use it correctly at the outset, and Ms. Yeasmin
and other Poly-Glu ladies serve as both salespersons
and instructors.
As members can see, as with what is called a “base of
the pyramid” business, that endeavour is characterized
by the expectations placed on the power of women. By
combining her income with her husband’s, Ms. Yeasmin
has been able to send her children to an institution of
higher education. Poverty caused her to give up on the
dream she had cherished as a little girl of becoming a
doctor someday. But I understand that now she proudly
states she has become a doctor of clean water. Can we
not say that Ms. Yeasmin has acquired self-esteem, the
most precious asset of all? My Government wishes to
create as many Ms. Nilufa Yeasmins as possible.
By the way, the company that makes Poly-Glu is a
very small Japanese company. We will work to enhance
the assistance to such companies and organizations to
allow their ideas to bear fruit.
Finally, there is one more woman I would like to
introduce to everyone in the Hall today, but this Afghan
lady is no longer with us. Her name is Ms. Islam Bibi,
and on 4 July she was gunned down and assassinated.
She was 37 years old and is survived by three children.
Ms. Islam Bibi was a proud female police officer
with the Afghan police. She came to shoulder heavy
responsibilities through her nine years of service. She
guarded polling stations to monitor elections and was a
trainer to young female officers coming after her. We
have much work to be done. However, we must proceed
undaunted.
Under the auspices of the Law and Order Trust Fund
for Afghanistan, Japan has been one of the countries that
have always taken great pains to improve the capacity
of the Afghan police force and cultivate female police
officers, whose number will finally reach 1,800 — still
far from enough. I have renewed my determination to
continue to provide support in order to prevent another
case like that of Islam Bibi.
I wanted to emphasize — through the real-life
example of Ms. Nilufa Yeasmin in Bangladesh — the
necessity of promoting women’s participation in society
and their empowerment. My Government has prioritized
that as its foremost policy and will continue to undertake
highly inventive efforts, including launching start-up
businesses in Africa.
Through her actions, Ms. Tokiko Sato, the
Japanese aid specialist, has highlighted the importance
of maternal, newborn and child health, an MDG
whose attainment has been conspicuously slow. My
Administration will, as its second priority policy area,
engage greater efforts towards women’s health and
medical care.
Finally, what I hoped to convey through the tragic
example of Islam Bibi is the importance of women’s
participation and their protection in the context
of peace and security. Japan intends to promote
measures to ensure women’s participation at all
stages — including in conflict prevention and resolution
and in peacebuilding — and to safeguard their rights
and the physical well-being of women who are exposed
to danger in times of conflict.
I would like to state here that in establishing those
three pillars, the Government of Japan will direct
official development assistance in excess of $3 billion
over the next three years, to target the pillars.
In conclusion, if we were to follow the wisdom
of the so-called “womenomics” theory, as mentioned
earlier, the development concept aimed at cultivating
the power of women would generate greater peace and
well-being in the world. I wish to bring about a society
where women shine, within Japan and in conflict
regions and countries suffering from poverty. In that
context, I do not consider the outlook to be optimistic.
However, I know one thing: in Japan a considerable
number of people are working unsparingly towards that
end. They are the people who are making every effort to
ready themselves to be able to work together, in unity.