TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF UNITED NATIONS CENTRE FOR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Press Release
DEV/2129
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF UNITED NATIONS CENTRE FOR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
19961217 NEW YORK, 17 December (DDSMS) -- Two events were organized in Nagoya, Japan, from 12 to 13 December, to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the United Nations Centre for Regional Development. The Under-Secretary- General of the Department for Development Support and Management Services (DDSMS), Jin Yongjian, spoke at the two events, the Twenty-fifth Anniversary Symposium and the Anniversary Lecture.The United Nations Centre for Regional Development, located in Nagoya City, was established under the agreement between the United Nations and the Government of Japan in 1971 as a trust fund project executed by the Development Support Department. One of its primary objectives is to promote sub-national regional development in developing countries through research and training, as well as advisory service to concerned governments and organizations. The Department provides the Centre with policy and operational guidelines, as well as support services.
The Government of Japan contributes 720 million yen annually to support the Centre's programme activities.
Within the context of its overall theme of "Regional Development and International Cooperation towards the Twenty-first Century", the symposium addressed two major interrelated topics, namely, "Emerging Issues and Trends in Regional Development and Their Implication for International Cooperation", and "International Cooperation for Regional Development with a Focus on Capacity-Building and Training". The symposium was attended by over 200 government officials and experts from a number of countries in different continents, representatives of international organizations, and citizens of Japan.
Approximately 800 participants attended the Anniversary Lectures delivered by the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Yasushi Akashi, and by Yusuke Fukada, a well-known Japanese non-fiction writer. Mr. Akashi spoke on the topic of "Living in Japan with global perspectives, and living in the world with Japan in mind". Mr. Fukada discussed various issues facing Asia, and Japan, in moving towards the coming century. Their lectures were followed by a panel discussion on Japan in the context of the present situation of Asia, with emphasis on Cambodia. Panellists included
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Professor Yukio Imagawa, Kanto Gakuen University, and Fuyuko Kamisaka, a leading Japanese non-fiction writer.
As Jin Yongjian stated, the initiative of the Centre to organize those two important events was very timely and appropriate, since "the United Nations has been searching for realistic yet effective future strategies and programmes for the international community to address the emerging, complex issues of a socio-political, economic and environmental nature, including globalization, formation of regional economic groups of countries, environmental degradation, poverty, economic disparities, urbanization, gender issues, violation of human rights, suppression of minority groups, and natural and man-made disasters". He also referred to the Secretary-General's often- stated wish that United Nations organizations work together in pursuance of commonly held goals and objectives, and he cited the longstanding partnership between the Centre and the Department as an excellent example of such a collaborative alliance.
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