Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda attended a ceremony to present the Prime Minister's commendations for contributors to child and youth education and child-rearing initiatives, held at the Prime Minister's Office.

The ceremony is intended to honor companies, groups, and individuals who have made outstanding achievements in activities for assisting child and youth education or supporting child-rearing and families raising children, with the purpose of contributing to the sound development of children and youths.

The Prime Minister said in his address, "I believe that the smiles of children and youths are the indicator of whether a society is sound. When children smile and the eyes of young people sparkle with confidence and joy, their parents smile too, spreading waves of bright hope throughout society as a whole. The "children first" policy is above all intended to create a society in which everyone smiles through this synergy of smiles.
Under the principle of "children first," the Government intends to enhance social security for those in the early stages of life by combining national and regional resources to fundamentally reinforce support for the child-rearing generation as well as support for youths, including employment assistance.
This is one of the major themes of the comprehensive reform of social security and taxation systems consolidated in June. I have just issued an instruction to accelerate considerations and promptly reach a conclusion on the materialization of the New System for Children and Child-rearing.
It is my hope that by combining these efforts by the Government and your pioneering initiatives, children and youths will develop with full vitality to shoulder the next generation."