Reform of the United Nations and the US-Japan cooperation

Q.

What is Japan's position concerning the work on the "Agenda for Development"?

Japan believes that reform in the economic and social fields is an important element to strengthen and revitalize the United Nations. In 1994, U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali issued a report entitled "An Agenda for Development." In December 1994, the General Assembly estabilished a working group to further elaborate on action-oriented Agenda for Development . The working group is undertaking deliberations with a view to finalizing an Agenda for Development and to report thereon during the fiftieth session of the General Assembly which will end mid-September.

Development issues have until now tended to become politicized in the context of East-West confrontation, and were not addressed from the essential perspective of development. Today, however, an environment is emerging in which the problems of economic and social developmment of developing countries can be squareely addressed form a perspective of cooperation and patnership. The WG should develop a new comprehensive development strategy based on a global partnership and will reach substantive agreement on UN institutional reeform for better addressing development problems. Based on these considerations, Japan presented "Elements for incusion in an Agenda for Development" last August to the WG.

In formulating a new development strategy, a "comprehensive approach" is needed. Such an approach would include not only official development assistance, but a variety of policy measures in such areas as trade, investment, macroeconomic policies, technology transfer, and building social infrastructure. In addition, it is also important to take an "individual approach" which applies the best policy mix according to the respective country's needs and conditions.

Realistic development targets which clearly indicate the anticipated results of development should be established, and developing countries and donor countries should work together to achives those targets. These targets would combine indices measuring the economic growth of a developing country by, for example, the inncrease in its GNP to fixed level wiithin a centain time frame, with indices showing the degreee of social development according to, among others, literacy and infant mortality rates.

"South-South cooperation" should be further promoted. For that purpose, the voluntary trust fund for the promotion of South-South cooperation that UNDP is invited to establish by the resolution of UN General Assemnly should be fully utilized.