[Title] TICAD 9:Plenary Session 1 (Peace and Stability), Remarks by H.E.Mr. KISHIDA Fumio, Representative of the Government of Japan

It is my great pleasure to serve as an acting chair on this occasion and discuss the development and future of Africa with you. This opportunity is especially meaningful to me because I have engaged in TICAD since 2015 as Prime Minister and as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

The topic of this first Plenary Session is "peace and stability." Peace and stability are the cornerstones for enabling a sustainable economic development and building an inclusive society. I look forward to having practical discussions with you on topics such as efforts to address the root causes of conflict, the roles of women and youth, the Humanitarian- Development-Peace Nexus, and initiatives implemented by Africa.

To provide a catalyst for promoting your discussion, I will briefly explain Japan's principles and initiatives for this field.

Firstly, we focus on providing cooperation to African-led conflict prevention and peacebuilding. Through our contribution to the AU, Japan works to help the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia and strengthen PKO training centers across Africa. We are also training peacebuilders in the Horn of Africa region through collaboration with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development.

Secondly, we focus on promoting democracy, good governance, and the rule of law. Since TICAD 8, Japan has cooperated with the measures to train over 3,000 personnel in the judicial and administrative fields as well as the efforts

towards implementation of fair and transparent elections and achievement of social stability. We will support African initiatives by providing capacity building assistance to relevant organizations.

Thirdly, we aim to strengthen community foundations and mainstream Women, Peace and Security (WPS). To promote women's participation in peace processes and in disaster and climate change response, Japan will promote efforts such as those for developing women leaders, providing livelihood improvement assistance to realize women's economic independence, and expanding educational opportunities for women and youth.

Finally, to achieve peace and stability of the International Community, we also need to reform the UN Security Council, an organ playing a critical role in achieving them. Japan is determined to cooperate with Africa in pursuing this and bear the responsibility together for ensuring peace and security.

As you can see from Japan's specific initiatives and efforts that I have briefly explained, Japan is promoting its initiatives for conflict prevention and peacebuilding by aiming to make them sustainable and turn them into the ones on which Japan and African countries work as equal partners by putting their heads together.

We need to figure out how to achieve these aims better. I look forward to hearing your candid opinions about this.