[Title] Statement by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015

Our joint international efforts over the years to realize sustainable development have culminated in this historic adoption of the 2030 Agenda.

The new Agenda has laid five key elements, called the five "P"s; which are People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace, and Partnership at its core. It has also forged an ambitious plan of action in various fields including women, health, education, disaster risk reduction, and quality growth.

With these core components, all of which Japan has emphasized, the new Agenda will lead our efforts in order to ultimately eradicate poverty from the earth and to transform the world into a sustainable planet by 2030.

Japan, which proposed the International Development Goals as early as the 1990s, and has consistently contributed to this endeavor, sincerely welcomes the adoption of this Agenda. I would like to express my respect to the efforts made by all those who worked so hard to bring this process forward.

In order to implement this universal agenda, we must overcome the traditional North-South dichotomy; we must work together to build instead a new global partnership, where all stakeholders, including all countries, the private sector, and civil society, join forces and play their respective roles. Such a partnership should also be one in which women, people with disabilities and youth proactively participate.

I would like to reiterate that Japan, as part of this partnership, will put forth its best possible efforts, together with the international community, to implement this Agenda.

Mr. President,

For the past 60 years, Japan has continuously contributed to the stability and prosperity of the international community by extending Official Development Assistance (ODA) amounting to approximately 330 billion dollars in total, accepting 560,000 trainees, and dispatching 190,000 experts and volunteers. Building upon these achievements, Japan will promote the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

We will carry this effort forward by applying the Development Cooperation Charter of Japan as a compass, which was newly established this year as a foundation for Japan's development cooperation. In particular, we will do so based on the concept of human security, the guiding principle of the Charter, which focuses on each and every individual.

In order to promote the Agenda, Japan will first pursue various initiatives to achieve "quality growth", by which we specifically mean inclusive, sustainable and resilient growth for all, and thereby to end poverty.

To achieve this aim, Japan will take a leading role in promoting quality infrastructure investment as a foundation for quality growth not only in Asia, but also across the world including Africa.

Additionally, using development cooperation as a catalyst, Japan will expand partnerships with the private sector in order to mobilize its financial resources and technologies. Furthermore, Japan will promote the development of industrial human resources, a key driving force to achieve such growth, taking advantage of our country's high educational standards and advanced technology.

The second approach that Japan will emphasize is the protection and empowerment of people in vulnerable situations, so as to ensure that no one will be left behind.

In the field of health, which is an essential component in this effort, Japan has announced a new global health policy which aims to strengthen health systems in order to better prepare the international community for public health emergencies such as the Ebola virus disease outbreak and to promote universal health coverage in every country.

In education, Japan established a new cooperation strategy entitled the "Learning Strategy for Peace and Growth", which focuses on enhancing the quality of learning, as well as supporting human resource development in the areas of industry, science and technology.

In the field of disaster risk reduction, Japan will take a leading role in implementing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, adopted this March, and also calls upon the international community to establish "World Tsunami Day" at the United Nations in order to raise global awareness of the risk of tsunamis.

Thirdly, Japan will further strengthen its efforts to achieve sustainable environment and society.

On the issue of climate change, Japan will steadily implement assistance to the most vulnerable countries in particular, and actively contribute to establish a fair and effective international framework applicable to all Parties at the upcoming COP 21. Moreover, Japan will share with the world our renowned knowledge and efforts on building a sound material-cycle society, such as the concept of the 3Rs; "Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle."

Last but not least, Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) which operates a 1 trillion dollar-scale pension fund, the largest pension fund in the world, has just signed the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment. This will surely contribute to the achievement of sustainable development.

Mr. President,

In just three months, we will enter into the first year of the global endeavor towards 2030. We must take actions immediately to implement the new Agenda.

Let me conclude my statement by reiterating our determination to tackle the important challenge of achieving sustainable development by making the most of the upcoming opportunities next year, such as the World Humanitarian Summit, and the Sixth Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD VI), the latter of which will be held for the first time in Africa.

I thank you for your attention.

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