Top �� What's up around the Prime Minister �� September, 2002

First Day of the Johannesburg Summit 2002 Monday, September 2, 2002 Click photographs to enlarge Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi attended the high-level segment of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg Summit 2002) being held in Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa. This conference aims to compile specific measures for the Implementation Document to achieve Agenda 21, the action plan for sustainable development, outlining international efforts in the field of the environment, adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED, the so-called Earth Summit) held in Brazil in 1992. The leaders of over 100 countries are attending the high-level meeting. On the opening day of the meeting, representatives of all the countries delivered speeches and in his five minute address, Prime Minister Koizumi presented the "Koizumi Initiative" incorporating concrete measures taken by Japan to assist the self-help efforts of developing countries based on the three pillars of human resources development, development and the environment. The measures include a pledge to provide no less than 250 billion yen in education assistance over a five-year period. Prime Minister Koizumi also held talks with President Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki of the Republic of South Africa and Secretary-General Kofi Annan of the United Nations, respectively.