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United Nations Young Civic Ambassadors Pay Courtesy Call on the Prime Minister Monday, March 24, 2008 JAPANESE

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda received a courtesy call from the United Nations Young Civic Ambassadors and talked with them at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. These Young Civic Ambassadors are six secondary school students selected from young volunteers who participated in the "No! Absolutely No!" Fundraising Campaign for the United Nations (UN) promoted nationwide to assist the UN efforts to eradicate drug abuse. The Ambassadors are to deliver the contribution that they collected this fiscal year to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna, Austria, and they made a courtesy call on Prime Minister Fukuda, who chairs the Headquarters for the Promotion of Measures to Prevent Drug Abuse, prior to their departure to the country. The Young Civic Ambassadors are scheduled to deliver the contribution to the UNODC and visit places such as drug laboratories, a therapeutic facility, and the Vienna Municipal Office to experience the international exchange activities, over the course of their weeklong stay to April 1. On behalf of the Ambassadors, Mr. Kenta Okamura (third from right in the photo), a high school student in Fukushima Prefecture, expressed his ambitions, saying, "We would like to take this opportunity to closely look at the UN activities for the prevention of drug abuse and obtain global experience and knowledge, so that we can use them for our future activities once we get back to Japan." In response, Prime Minister Fukuda encouraged the Ambassadors by saying, "Illegal use of drugs hurts young people and ruins their lives. There are various reasons for people to go in for drugs: some might be involved in drug deals to get more money. In any event, we must absolutely prevent the illegal use of drugs. You will be visiting various facilities in Vienna. I hope that you will learn a lot from people there, and I want you to share what you saw and what you learned in Vienna with your friends when you get back to Japan."