Japan, 2010

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

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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.

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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.