Toshiki KaifU
Former Prime Minister of Japan
Speech transcribed and edited for client publication by Civitatis International.
The topic of this meeting is poverty. From my experience, I would like to explain just one thing that Japan can do which could be useful. What I would like to talk about is this system called “Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers.” When I was young and newly elected, there was great poverty in African and Asian countries and I was asked to solve the problem by sending people over to these countries to offer their help. So I went to countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines and in examining the situation in these Asian countries I asked myself what Japan could do, with the means at its disposal. How we could be useful? I wondered how young Japanese could possibly be of use living together with these populations, working together with them. Then I came up with the answer: agriculture. That is where we can be useful. The young people shared the life of the farmers: they lived together with them, slept together, ate together and worked together. I think this effort has been acknowledged because in Bangladesh, the rice yield has grown four- fold. These are examples. Now there are 20,000 young Japanese people in this organization. One thing we have to pay attention to is make sure whether the country in question needs us or not. We must not impose our presence. So we try to understand what the populations need and what we can do for them. Then, depending on the needs, we train the young people in Japan.
As you may well understand, listening to me, the Japanese language is very unusual, so, the ILO [International Labour Organization] Vocational Training Centre in Turin was very useful to us in providing assistance in learning while trying to implement this kind of organization. I went to Turin to visit this Centre. We decided to send the young people out after they had learnt the language and the customs and the needs of the country they would be going to. Every now and again, the opposition in the Japanese Parliament says that we only send money to these countries and only speak about the problem. During these discussions, I always give the example of this youth organization. They export techniques and human collaboration; this is still continuing, even after there have been 52 victims. So I would like our critics to see the situation from a more global point of view.
In listening to you today, I think it is not enough to give money, it is necessary to work together and hand out the tools that are needed. Now, giving you the example of Turin, before sending our young people out, they learn the language. We try to give assistance to SMEs so that they are happy. We must not be too invasive. Luckily, we also have much collaboration. To reduce poverty in Africa and Asian countries it is important to teach techniques. We are continuing along this path.
Since time is running short, I will now simply mention a few problems.
We have not yet completed our plan of sending 100,000 young people out. We are trying to increase the numbers to satisfy the needs of the populations involved. Now, listening to your contributions I wondered how we could organize international collaboration to satisfy the needs of these populations.
Secondly, it is taken for granted that we are against terrorism and violence.
I think that if Japan, with its experience, can be useful in alleviating poverty in the world, it is important to collaborate with the people in need, living and working humbly together with them.
The topic of this meeting is poverty. From my experience, I would like to explain just one thing that Japan can do which could be useful. What I would like to talk about is this system called “Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers.” When I was young and newly elected, there was great poverty in African and Asian countries and I was asked to solve the problem by sending people over to these countries to offer their help. So I went to countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines and in examining the situation in these Asian countries I asked myself what Japan could do, with the means at its disposal. How we could be useful? I wondered how young Japanese could possibly be of use living together with these populations, working together with them. Then I came up with the answer: agriculture. That is where we can be useful. The young people shared the life of the farmers: they lived together with them, slept together, ate together and worked together. I think this effort has been acknowledged because in Bangladesh, the rice yield has grown four- fold. These are examples. Now there are 20,000 young Japanese people in this organization. One thing we have to pay attention to is make sure whether the country in question needs us or not. We must not impose our presence. So we try to understand what the populations need and what we can do for them. Then, depending on the needs, we train the young people in Japan.
As you may well understand, listening to me, the Japanese language is very unusual, so, the ILO [International Labour Organization] Vocational Training Centre in Turin was very useful to us in providing assistance in learning while trying to implement this kind of organization. I went to Turin to visit this Centre. We decided to send the young people out after they had learnt the language and the customs and the needs of the country they would be going to. Every now and again, the opposition in the Japanese Parliament says that we only send money to these countries and only speak about the problem. During these discussions, I always give the example of this youth organization. They export techniques and human collaboration; this is still continuing, even after there have been 52 victims. So I would like our critics to see the situation from a more global point of view.
In listening to you today, I think it is not enough to give money, it is necessary to work together and hand out the tools that are needed. Now, giving you the example of Turin, before sending our young people out, they learn the language. We try to give assistance to SMEs so that they are happy. We must not be too invasive. Luckily, we also have much collaboration. To reduce poverty in Africa and Asian countries it is important to teach techniques. We are continuing along this path.
Since time is running short, I will now simply mention a few problems.
We have not yet completed our plan of sending 100,000 young people out. We are trying to increase the numbers to satisfy the needs of the populations involved. Now, listening to your contributions I wondered how we could organize international collaboration to satisfy the needs of these populations.
Secondly, it is taken for granted that we are against terrorism and violence.
I think that if Japan, with its experience, can be useful in alleviating poverty in the world, it is important to collaborate with the people in need, living and working humbly together with them.