Ayaka SHIOMOMURA, a member of the House of Councilors of the Constitut…
Today、I met with Mr. Nobuyoshi YOKOE, a former Ministry of Economy, Tr…
Mr. Masaharu NAKAGAWA, a member of the House of Representatives and Secretary General of the Parliamentary Committee for of the National Diet of Japan for the World Federation, underscored the crucial role of predictable funds in delivering development assistance. He acknowledged the challenges Japan faces due to the yen’s depreciation, which makes future contributions uncertain. However, he reassured that the Diet members are fully aware of the necessity of stable funds for effective development assistance.
Concerning the role of the UN in countries in conflict, from our point of view, the Japanese Diet members feel that the UN is not fulfilling its role of preventing conflicts in advance, creating a society where conflicts do not occur, or building peace when conflicts do occur and that the Security Council is not playing its part or is unable to fulfill such a function. The world is in a situation where these functions are not being exercised or cannot be exercised, with the Security Council playing a central role. That is why we are in a situation where the UN Development Programme has to create the kind of structure that links humanitarian assistance to development. In conclusion, Mr. Nakagawa expressed his belief that it is important to discuss how the UN`s functions should be brought toward peacebuilding through the various UN bodies; in other words, to discuss and implement UN reform. (25/6/2024)
Mr. Takanori ARIMA, Director of the International Cooperation Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the United Nations Development Programme is a core institution of the UN development system and an organization at the forefront of the development field around the world. As Associate Administrator Haoliang Xu mentioned, Japan is in the midst of a very difficult situation to make financial contributions to international organizations because of the weak yen. However, from the perspective of securing the financial foundation of the United Nations Development Programme, it is the intention of the Government of Japan to continue to work together, exchange views, and hold discussions with UNDP, including the introduction of private funds, as mentioned earlier in this meeting. (25/6/2024)
