Japan

I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Mr. Joseph Deiss on his assumption of the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session. I also express my appreciation 10-54959 32 to His Excellency Ali Abdussalam Treki for his efforts as President at the previous session. I should also like to express my respect to His Excellency Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon for his leadership. Sixty-five years ago, in the aftermath of the Second World War, Japan faced the same challenges as those that today confront developing countries. Japan received a great deal of support from the international community in its struggle to overcome those challenges. It is for that reason that Japan feels strongly about attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which is a main focus of the General Assembly this year. At this time, the international community faces a series of challenges, including poverty, hunger, infectious diseases, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and missiles, regional conflicts and global environmental issues. It is an honour for me to have this opportunity to share with the General Assembly my thoughts regarding the role Japan should play in the international community, building on our own experiences. Let me start by sharing a philosophy that I cherish, namely, that the primary role of the leader of a country should be to create a society in which human suffering is reduced to a minimum. I believe that it is the duty of all political leaders to minimize, to the extent possible, sources of human suffering such as poverty, disease and conflict. With that philosophy in mind, I shall now discuss Japan’s concrete contributions in four areas: development, the global environment, nuclear disarmament and non- proliferation and peacekeeping and peacebuilding. The first area of our contribution is assisting the development of the developing countries. After the Second World War, Japan achieved economic reconstruction owing in part to international assistance. Later, through rapid economic growth, Japan became one of the major economic Powers. With such history behind it, Japan cannot overlook the realities of the world today, where a billion people suffer from hunger, where nearly a million die each year of malaria and where poverty keeps some 72 million children out of school. Japan attaches great importance to achieving the MDGs. I attended the MDG summit the day before yesterday (see ), where I announced our new contributions in the areas of health and education — the Kan commitment — based on our desire to save all fledging lives and to enable all children to go to school. Over the course of five years, we will provide $5 billion in health assistance and $3.5 billion in education assistance. Our commitment in the area of health includes a contribution of up to $800 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Our assistance in the area of education will provide a high-quality educational environment for more than 7 million children. Japan will continue to work comprehensively on development assistance in accordance with the concept of human security, and will lead the efforts of the international community towards meeting the MDGs. As a part of those efforts, my country proposes to convene an international conference in Japan next year in order to strengthen coordination among a broad range of stakeholders, including Governments and international and non-governmental organizations, and to in follow up on the High-level Plenary Meeting on the MDGs. Reinforcing assistance to Africa, in particular, where progress towards the achievement of the MDGs is slow, is one of the priorities of the international community. Attaining the MDGs in Africa is an important pillar of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) process. Japan is enhancing its efforts in areas such as health, water and sanitation, education and food. Japan will continue and strengthen its assistance in order to honour our commitments made at TICAD IV, including the doubling of our official development assistance and providing support in order to double private investment to Africa by 2012. The second area of our contribution is the global environment. At last year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference, Japan announced its target of reducing emissions by 25 per cent compared with 1990 levels by 2020. That is premised on the establishment of a fair and effective international framework in which all major economies participate, as well as on their agreement on ambitious targets. Small island States face the danger of being submerged as a result of climate change. With a view to adopting a new, comprehensive and legally binding document, Japan will continue to coordinate with other States and the United Nations to lead international negotiations to ensure the success of the sixteenth 33 10-54959 session of the sixteenth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held at the end of this year. We will also steadily support developing countries that are vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change, including those taking mitigation measures such as reducing emissions through public-private partnerships. Next month, the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity will be convened in Nagoya, Japan, under the theme “Living in harmony with nature”. At that meeting, we must come to an agreement on beginning new actions in order to halt the rapid progression of biodiversity loss. The greatest challenges in that regard include setting a common global action target and establishing a new international regime in the area of access and benefits-sharing in connection with genetic resources. As Chair of the meeting, Japan is determined to play an important role in these efforts. The third area of our contribution is nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. I believe that given that the invention of nuclear weapons and the subsequent threat to the survival of the human race was man’s doing, the solution to the problem must be within the reach of man’s efforts. Japan, as the only country that has ever suffered the devastation of atomic bombings, has a moral responsibility to take concrete steps to achieve a world without nuclear weapons. Japan is determined to lead the international community in those endeavours. Every year for the past 65 years, peace memorial services have been held in Hiroshima and Nagasaki to pray for a world without nuclear weapons. Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon visited Japan in August this year and was the first Secretary-General to attend the Hiroshima peace memorial ceremony and visit Nagasaki. I would like to thank him once again for making that visit. A representative of the United States was also in attendance at the Hiroshima ceremony, along with representatives of other countries. I very much welcome their decision to attend, which will contribute to increasing momentum towards a world without nuclear weapons. Japan bears a responsibility to all humankind to pass on to future generations an awareness of the catastrophic nature of nuclear weapons. With that goal in mind, I decided to appoint atomic bomb survivors — known in Japan as hibakusha — as special communicators for a world without nuclear weapons. I have asked them to send out messages to the world about the horror of the use of nuclear weapons and about the value of peace, which only those with first- hand experience can convey. Japan will coordinate with other countries and civil society to promote education on disarmament and non-proliferation issues. At the sixty-fourth session, Japan submitted a draft resolution entitled “Renewed determination towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons”, which the General Assembly adopted in December as resolution 64/47, with the United States as a co-sponsor for the first time. Japan is determined to continue its efforts to strengthen the trend of broadening support for that resolution in the international community. The steady implementation of the agreement achieved at the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, held in May, is essential. On the occasion of the opening of the new session of the General Assembly, Japan and Australia co-hosted a meeting of foreign ministers from like-minded countries on the issue of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. We also launched a new group dedicated to working towards a world without nuclear weapons. We intend to deepen discussions on reducing the role and number of nuclear weapons in the world. Here, I must make reference to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Iran. The nuclear and missile-development programmes of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea pose a threat to the entire international community. Japan urges the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to take concrete actions in accordance with the series of relevant Security Council resolutions and the joint statement of the Six-Party Talks. Moreover, the steady implementation of the relevant resolutions by all Member States is essential. Japan has not altered its intention to comprehensively resolve outstanding issues of concern, settle the unfortunate past and normalize relations in accordance with the Japan-Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Pyongyang Declaration. To that end, it is absolutely indispensable to resolve the abduction issue. If the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea takes constructive and sincere steps such as implementing its agreement with Japan, Japan is ready to respond in kind. 10-54959 34 On the Iranian nuclear issue, it is important for the international community to work in unity to implement firmly the relevant Security Council resolutions and to urge Iran to take realistic decisions. Japan will continue to urge Iran to make efforts to dispel the suspicions of the international community. We will also work together with the international community for a peaceful and diplomatic resolution of this issue. The fourth area of our contribution is peacekeeping and peacebuilding. Japan, which underwent reconstruction from the destruction of war and achieved economic growth, is deeply aware of the importance and value of peace. Our efforts in the area of peacekeeping and peacebuilding are a manifestation of our determination to act proactively towards achieving true peace. There is a common assumption that peacebuilding activities aimed at promoting health and education, industrial development and employment should begin after peacekeeping is concluded. However, in order to realize true peace, it is imperative to work on peacebuilding efforts in tandem with peacekeeping activities from the earliest stages of the latter. In April this year, as President of the Security Council, Japan hosted an open debate of the Council on post-conflict peacebuilding (see S/PV.6299). Japan will make efforts to advance this seamless approach to peacebuilding in the world, based on the perspective of human security. In Haiti, which was devastated by unprecedented damage following the tragic earthquake earlier this year, a team of engineers from the Japan Self-Defence Forces is actively contributing to the United Nations peacekeeping operation’s recovery efforts. In flood-hit Pakistan, we currently have helicopters of the Self- Defence Forces providing assistance as an international disaster relief team. With regard to Timor-Leste, we recently took the decision to send military liaison officers to the United Nations peacekeeping operation on the ground. Japan will continue to actively participate in United Nations peacekeeping and disaster relief operations. Furthermore, we will make concrete efforts in such areas as investing in peace using official development assistance, providing assistance to training centres for peacekeeping operations and developing human resources, such as in the training of civilian peacebuilding experts in Asia. Of all the places in the world where peacebuilding efforts are under way, Afghanistan in particular is at a crucial stage. At this moment, it is Afghanistan that poses the greatest challenge for the international community in terms of peacebuilding, and it is to Afghanistan that Japan is providing its most intensive assistance. Japan, in cooperation with various partners, has supported the Afghan Government’s efforts in a comprehensive and integrated manner, focusing on three pillars: the improvement of security, including police training; reintegration through vocational training for former Taliban rank-and-file soldiers; and job creation and sustainable and self- reliant development through agricultural assistance and similar strategies. Japan will cooperate with the Republic of Turkey in assisting in Afghan police training by providing funding as well as police personnel, with a view to improving security in Afghanistan. We also recently disbursed $50 million in assistance for the reintegration of insurgents. Japan will provide its assistance in such a way that the people of Afghanistan will be able to perceive a tangible improvement in their livelihoods. I wish to stress the importance of United Nations reform. The United Nations is the only universal international organization with the goal of promoting world peace and prosperity. Ensuring a functional United Nations that is capable of effectively addressing diverse global issues is of the utmost importance. To that end, all Member States must work proactively to promote structural reform and functional reinforcement of the United Nations. The United Nations, for its part, must continuously maintain the understanding and trust of Member States by ensuring its own transparency and accountability. The role of the Security Council is particularly important for the United Nations to perform effectively in resolving global challenges. For the Security Council to be effective, it needs to have legitimacy and reflect the current realities of the international community. In that regard, reform of the Security Council is indispensable. 35 10-54959 I believe that Japan, as the only country that has ever suffered the devastation of atomic bombings and as a country that does not possess nuclear weapons, is well suited to play a role in the Security Council in the twenty-first century. I wish to express once again Japan’s determined aspiration to take on further responsibilities for international peace and security as a permanent member of the Security Council. Japan is confronted today by various social and economic challenges, including an ageing society, a declining birth rate, fiscal problems and energy dependency on other countries. I regard those challenges as global, as many countries are destined to face them sooner or later. It is my belief that Japan will be able to contribute to the world by providing an innovative model, developed through its own national experience, for solving problems facing the world now and in the future. Japan is determined to tackle those challenges aggressively. Compared with the magnitude of the responsibility we bear to the future of humankind, the differences that divide nations are not great. I am convinced of that. Everything rests on the decisions and actions we take today. Let each one of us take that thought to heart as we begin the new session of the General Assembly and seek to achieve good results in our deliberations.