[Provisional Translation]

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the first meeting of the Ministerial Council on Universal Design 2020, at the Prime Minister’s Office.

At the meeting, the Universal Design 2020 Action Plan was approved.

Based on the approval of the Action Plan, the Prime Minister said,

“Last year, our Japanese athletes put in strong performances at the Rio de Janeiro Games. Seeing the Paralympians pull of an astonishing performance on the grand stage made me realize once again that para-sports has the power to invigorate people and society.

Coming up is the Tokyo Games. We need to accelerate preparations in order to make this the world’s best Games.

Furthermore, we will take the Tokyo Paralympic Games as an opportunity to realize a society of coexistence, a society in which those with disabilities can pursue their dreams and more fully harness their potential and capabilities, in the same manner as those without disabilities. This will become one of the greatest legacies of the Tokyo Games.

Today, we have here people with disabilities including Paralympians, people involved with the Tokyo Games, relevant ministers including Minister Marukawa, among others, and we have compiled an action plan of the Government for the success of the Tokyo Paralympic Games and for the creation of a society of coexistence as a legacy of those Games.

Within this action plan, I would like to ask in particular that the Ministerial Council start by having people with disabilities participate as members of the Ministerial Council and so on in order to reflect their perspectives as we consider and evaluate measures related to people with disabilities, as well as working on the implementation of ‘barrier-free mind’ education for all children through amended Courses of Study, and on the revision of systems, including legislation, related to universal design in urban planning.

I ask the relevant ministers to exercise leadership and execute measures based on this action plan toward the success of the Tokyo Games and the realization of a society of coexistence that will continue thereafter.”