development to impoverished populations.

— Japan will employ comprehensive and cross-sectoral approaches involving WID and gender considerations, job training and employment creation, and micro-financing. Japan will also emphasize community-oriented and participatory approaches to economic assistance.

— To reduce regional disparities, assistance will be provided for promoting the key rural industries of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. Similarly, local industries will be nurtured to create new employment opportunities. Emphasis will be placed on improving the living environment and on training community organizations.

## (I) Basic Education

Not only is access to education is a basic human right, it is a key factor in developing an effective response to the problems of poverty, population, and the environment in developing countries.

In the least-developed countries, as well as in many developing countries, access to elementary education is hampered by a lack of funds, educational facilities, teaching materials, and teachers. Consequently, nearly 860 million people throughout the world remain illiterate. The objectives of the Development Partnership Strategy include the promotion of elementary education and the elimination of gender disparities in elementary and secondary education. Japan’s assistance in the field of basic education has included the construction of school buildings $ ^{7} $ and the provision of equipment and materials. For the elimination of gender disparities in Asia and Africa, Japan has been supporting the activities of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for the education of girls. $ ^{8} $

In light of the above, Japan will provide the following forms of support.

— In addition to hardware-oriented assistance for the construction of schools and provision of equipment and materials, Japan will upgrade its advisory assistance in both the areas of course development and educational administration, including assistance for the enhancement of system and capacity building in school administration, curriculum and teaching materials development, and teacher training.

— Japan will pay special attention to supporting basic education for girls.

— Active efforts will be made to utilize the resources of the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers and to promote cooperation with NGOs in the education of local communities, as well as to promote community participation in the implementation of assistance projects.

— Efforts will be made to ensure that assistance for basic education contributes to the improvement of job training and worker capacities in response to local needs and conditions.

## (2) Health and Medical Care

Poverty and a lack of development directly affect people’s health in developing countries. Past development efforts have resulted in the improvement of health indicators in developing countries. For instance, Japan has actively contributed to the WHO program for eradicating polio from the West Pacific region. Thanks to such efforts, polio has almost vanished from the West Pacific region and has declined dramatically on a worldwide scale. $ ^{9} $ However, nearly 12 million children under the age of five continue to die every year from preventable diseases. In order to respond to the many remaining challenges, it is essential that “primary health care” be made available to the greatest number of people possible. Humankind