Top > What's up around the Prime Minister > March, 2006

The United Nations Young Civic Ambassadors Pay Courtesy Call on the Prime Minister Friday, March 17, 2006 JAPANESE Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi received a courtesy call from the United Nations Young Civic Ambassadors at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. These Young Civic Ambassadors are six secondary school students selected from young volunteers nationwide who participated in the "No! Absolutely No!" Fundraising Campaign for the United Nations that was held for the purpose of assisting developing countries in further promoting activities to prevent drug abuse. The Ambassadors are scheduled to stay in Vienna, Austria, from March 18 to 24 in order to deliver a contribution to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNOCD) and take part in exchange activities, including visits to the Vienna Municipal Office and a local high school. On behalf of the Young Civic Ambassadors, Sakura Sasano, a third-year student at Nagasaki Meisei Prefectural Senior High School expressed her ambition by saying, "Taking this opportunity, I would like to learn about the activities of the United Nations for drug abuse prevention by making close observations. Through our visits to drug laboratories to learn about their training sessions and a therapeutic facility for drug dependence, as well as interactions with high school students in Vienna, we would like to obtain both global experience and knowledge and use them for our future activities in Japan." Prime Minister Koizumi gave his words of encouragement by saying, "Visiting Vienna will be a good opportunity for you to obtain invaluable experiences. I hope you will all do your best."