Press Release
Policy Speech by Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura
“Education for All: Human Resource Development for Self Reliance and Growth”
Embassy of Japan On April 28, 2008, Mr. Masahiko Koumura, Japanese Minisiter for Foreign Affairs, delivered a policy speech in support of Education for All (EFA,) process led by UNESCO aiming at explaining his thoughts on the relationship between development and education, and sharing some concrete proposals regarding what Japan aims to achieve through the upcoming TICAD IV and G8 Summit. As an introductory remark, Foreign Minister Koumura stated that the year 2008 is an important one for the world and for Japan; for the world, this year marks the halfway point as it works to achieve both the EFA Dakar Goals and Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s), and for Japan, it will be taking up development-related issues intensively as it prepares to host both the fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV) next month and G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit in July. The Minister mentioned that Japan has consistently supported the EFA process led by UNESCO since the initiative began, and will continue support for the process into the future. He then gave an overview of the current situation since the year 2000, which became a sort of starting line for the international community to come together to engage in significant efforts towards expanding and enhancing education in developing countries. This is demonstrated prominently in the EFA Dakar Goals, which UNESCO took the lead in formulating.
The Minister said that although the report by UNESCO stated that in the six years between 1999 and 2005, the number of out-of-school children around the globe dropped by as much as 25%, and on in the issue of the raising adult literacy rate and achieving gender parity in educational opportunities, it has become clear that the process in only half ways to accomplish its goals of improving access, quality, and equity in education. In order for the international community to attain Education for All and by extension, education leading to self-reliance and growth in each country, the Minister advocated four key points. These are; first, that basic education be further expanded and enhanced in both quality and quantity, second, that support be strengthened for a variety of levels of education beyond basic education, third, that synergies be developed between education and other development sectors, and fourth, that Japan aims to create partnership that incorporate all members of society, both domestically and internationally. He also mentioned that in addition, he expects similar efforts to be invested by individual countries. *The transcript of the entire speech is available at: http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/fm/koumura/speech0804.html
*Japans’ Sectoral Development Policy: Education (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan’s website)
*Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan’s website)
* G8 Hokkaido Toyako (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan’s website)
*TICAD (Tokyo International Conference on African Development) (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan’s website)
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