アフリカの開発に関する国連総会プレナリー会合における星野大使ステートメント

Mr. President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Distinguished colleagues,
 
 
There is no denying that Japan finds itself geographically far away from the African Continent; however, in today’s globalized world, irrespective of our location, we share common challenges and common successes and common future. Therefore, Africa’s peace and prosperity is our peace and prosperity, and our peace and prosperity is those of Africa’s. It is in this spirit that in 1993 the Government of Japan launched the Tokyo International Conference on Africa’s Development, commonly known as “TICAD”.
 
 
TICAD is a process realized through the active participation of African countries as well as strong partnership with the United Nations, represented by UNOSAA and UNDP, the African Union Commission and World Bank. I would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere appreciation for this strong partnership, without which TICAD could not succeed.
 
 
Inclusiveness, a focus on Africa’s ownership and strong follow-up mechanisms to ensure the concrete implementation of commitments, these three are the notable features of TICAD. The TICAD process is also aligned with the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063 through its focus on the Peace, Development and Humanitarian Nexus, as well as its people-centered and human security approach. We believe that it makes significant contributions to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063.
 
 
At the latest TICAD Ministerial Meeting held in Tokyo earlier this month, it was agreed that international support should comply with international standards, taking into account the sustainability of debt of recipient countries. This echoes a point contained in the UN Secretary-General’s report “New Partnership for Africa’s Development: sixteenth consolidated progress report on implementation and international support (A/73/269)”. In addition, the participants agreed on the need for private investment in order to diversify Africa’s economic industries and to develop high-quality infrastructure, as well as on the importance of realizing Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Based on the outcomes of the TICAD Ministerial Meeting, Japan intends to accelerate its preparations to host TICAD Summit, “TICAD7”, which will take place in August of next year. So please mark your calendar.
 
Mr. President,
 
This week, we appreciated the launch of the “Africa Dialogue Series (ADS) 2018” as an opportunity to deepen discussions on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063 and operationalizing the frameworks for partnership between the UN and the African Union. It also provided us invaluable inspiration for TICAD7.
We look forward to further consolidating partnership with African countries, international and sub-regional organizations and all other stakeholders, including civil society and the private sector, in order realize “The Africa We Want”, which is a necessary component of the world we all want.
 
I thank you.