The common factors behind these concepts of ownership, partnership, and south-south cooperation are confidence in the potential development capacity of Africa and horizontal cooperation based on an equal footing. Ladies and Gentlemen, Efforts will be necessary to realize the specific goals of this Tokyo Agenda for Action in the African continent. The African countries themselves should take the initiative in making these efforts. For its part, Japan will be very pleased if it can support the African countries and move forward together with them. Today, May 5, is a festival called Children's Day in Japan.
Children are our future, regardless of differences in race, culture, and religion.
It is on the basis of this thinking that Japan supports the concept of eradicating polio and providing vaccinations to children, being promoted by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund Since 1993, centered on the East Asia and West Pacific regions, Japan has implemented assistance in this field to the value of about 2.8 billion yen, including the provision of polio vaccine and cold chains. As a result, polio has just about been eradicated in these regions. And now we are extending these results to South Asia and Africa. Specifically, Japan announced its intention to provide support to Africa in the fields of health, education, and water supply to the value of about 90 billion yen over the next five years. Furthermore, regarding the maintenance of children's health, including the eradication of polio, we are planning to promote grass-roots cooperation through the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers.