The head of the U.N. Children's Fund office in Tokyo is calling on the government to try to narrow gaps among the poor in its efforts to help achieve the U.N. Millennium Development Goals on poverty reduction.
In a recent interview, Kunihiko Hirabayashi, director of the UNICEF Tokyo office, expressed the hope that Japan will be "a front-runner" in seeking equity in global attempts to meet the MDGs at an upcoming summit at the U.N. headquarters in New York designed to review progress on the program. The goals were set in 2000 for achievement in 2015.
The eight development goals include eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, halting the spread of HIV, promoting gender equality, reducing the mortality rate of children and providing universal education. The MDGs Summit will be held on Sept. 20-22.