Dispatch of Senior Officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Sudan

May 1, 2008

Prior to the TICAD IV and the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit, Japan has decided to dispatch senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Sudan (capital city Khartoum, Darfur region and the southern part of Sudan) and also to Oslo for the Minister-level Meeting concerning assistance to Sudan. This is a part of Japan’s concrete efforts as a “peace fostering nation,” also shows Japan’s leadership role as G8 chair, thereby strengthening its diplomatic efforts towards realization of peace and stability in Sudan.

Mr. Itsunori Onodera, Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, will leave Japan on May 2 (Fri) to visit Sudan (Khartoum and Darfur region). This will be the first visit by a senior official of the Government of Japan to Darfur (Al Fasher, Northern Darfur State). Mr. Onodera will observe the African Union (AU)/United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), visit an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp and the local United Nations office and talk with key officials of the Government of Sudan. Then he will hold talks with key officials of the Government of Sudan in Khartoum to appeal for an early solution of the Darfur issue.
Mr. Yasuhide Nakayama, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, will attend the Third Sudan Consortium Meeting (Donors’ Conference on Sudan) as the head of the delegation of the Government of Japan and will announce its position on future assistance to Sudan, including the amount of pledge. Mr. Nakayama will also co-chair part of the first session of that Meeting in the afternoon of the 6th. After the Meeting, he will visit the southern part of Sudan (Juba) and observe the present situation of reconstruction in the wake of the conclusion of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005. There, Mr. Nakayama will talk with key officials of the Government of Southern Sudan and observe Japan’s economic cooperation project and the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) where more than 10,000 personnel have been deployed.

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