Dr. Etsuko Kita doesn't hesitate to respond when asked what is lacking in Japan's assistance to the Third World -- understanding and confidence.
Kita, 63, a pediatrician and public health specialist, has worked to help Afghan refugees as part of UNICEF.
Avon Products Co. is giving her this year's Avon Award to Women for her decades of helping refugees worldwide, paving the way for Japanese to follow a career in international development and humanitarian aid.
The Tokyo affiliate of the New York-based cosmetic maker singled out Kita's efforts to provide better sanitary conditions, inoculations and pregnancy testing for Afghan refugees in Pakistan in the late 1980s and early 1990s.