Over the past five decades there has been more progress in reducing global poverty than in the past five centuries. Malnutrition has been reduced by one-third and child death rates have been halved.
These are some of the stunning statistics presented in the United Nations Development Program's 1997 Human Development Report. And Japan has had much to do with this progress, according to Gus Speth, who heads the UNDP.
"While many other nations have been pouring funds into building up their armies, Japan has been putting its money into assisting developing nations and protecting the global environment," Speth said. Japan has donated an average of $105 million per year since 1994 to the UNDP and is the agency's largest contributor, he said.