To solve the problem of poverty in developing countries, it is vital to implement measures that will improve living and educational environments and foster the next generation in these countries. The important thing is for Japan to steadily expand assistance that makes the most of this nation’s particular abilities.

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida made a speech at a ministerial meeting on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) held at U.N. headquarters. He said Japan would promote international cooperation toward achieving goals in 17 areas, including the eradication of poverty and famine.

Kishida emphasized Japan’s basic principle regarding development goals as “no one is left behind.” He also announced that Japan will provide aid on a scale of $1 billion through 2018, with assistance targeted at areas including education for children and young people, health, disaster risk reduction and gender equality.

In countries such as Syria, Japan will work on rebuilding schools ravaged by civil war, fostering teachers and providing an education for internally displaced people. Assistance should be expanded that does not only help people in material terms, including infrastructure development, but that attaches importance to nonmaterial aspects such as fostering human resources, thus encouraging self-reliance.

What counts most in the effort to raise school attendance rates is not merely building schools, but also implementing reforms in educational administration, such as managing schools through cooperation between local communities and parents. Japan has long been working on such institutional assistance in regions including western Africa. It is important to utilize this know-how.

Stress quality over quantity

Kishida also referred to assistance for developing countries that provides waterworks technology developed in Kitakyushu. The sophisticated technology held by local governments and private companies will prove useful in improving living environments.

The SDGs are an action plan of the United Nations, incorporating goals that should be realized by 2030, such as the eradication of poverty and securing a healthy life and quality education.

Japan has advocated the concept of “human security” — attaching importance to a society in which each person can live a dignified life — as a principle for implementing international cooperation. Such doctrines are reflected in the SDGs. Japan should take a leading role in realizing the goals.

A U.N. report said that as of 2016 about 10 percent of the world’s working population lived on less than $1.90 a day. The spread of poverty and underdevelopment could create a breeding ground for terrorism and violent extremism. Measures need to be implemented by the international community, as a whole.

The U.S. administration led by President Donald Trump, the world’s largest donor country, plans to slash the budget of the State Department, which exercises control over the country’s foreign assistance.

The danger of being unable to meet the global demand for development funds has been pointed out.

Japan’s official development assistance for this fiscal year stands at $4.9 billion. This represents the second consecutive year-on-year increase, but it still remains at half the peak posted in fiscal 1997.

No marked increase in the ODA budget is expected in the years ahead, either. Japan should aim to offer assistance that emphasizes quality more than quantity by cooperating with private companies and nonprofit organizations and that is in line with the actual conditions in developing countries.