Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - Wednesday, October 21, 1998
Yuri Kageyama, Associated Press Writer
"The ultimate objective of development is to improve living conditions for every human being," Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said in announcing the aid that will be distributed over five years.
Komura said the money will allow 2 million African children to study in new schools and provide better medical services and cleaner water for 15 million people.
The 82 nations and 40 organizations at the Second Tokyo International Conference on African Development also adopted a resolution promising to try to halve the number of Africans living in poverty by 2015 through increased foreign investment, better education and improved government. The conference opened Monday.
"Democracy and good governance, as well as peace and security, are essential to socioeconomic development in Africa," the Tokyo Agenda for Action said.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who attended the conference, called for more foreign aid and investment to help lift Africa out of poverty.
He asked that nations that have extended loans to the poorest African nations convert the debt into grants. As of 1996, Africa's external debts totaled $323 billion and were a major obstacle to growth, he said.
Annan said reducing poverty in Africa was "an enormous task." "But we should not be daunted, and we must start somewhere," he said in a speech at the closing ceremony.
Those at the conference agreed that African nations should increase spending on education so that by 2005, at least 80 percent of its children complete primary education.
Better health care is also needed to fight malaria, polio and AIDS, the agreement said. Of the 31 million adults and children living with HIV or AIDS worldwide, 21 million live in Africa, it said.
The conference, which follows one held five years ago in Tokyo, also discussed the need for agricultural development, regional cooperation and equality for African women.
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