Courtesy Visit to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe from H.E. Judge Ronny Abraham, President of the International Court of Justice
Foreign Affairs, Friday, July 28, 2017
On July 28th, commencing at 11:30 am, for approximately 15 minutes, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received a courtesy visit from H.E. Judge Ronny ABRAHAM, President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The overview of the visit is as follows:
1. At the outset, Prime Minister Abe welcomed the visit to Japan of President Abraham, as well as expressed his appreciation towards the efforts made by those who work for the ICJ to enhance the rule of law.
2. In response, President Abraham replied by stating that the ICJ and Japan has held a strong relationship for a long time, and that throughout history, Japan has thrown up prominent judges including Judge Owada. President Abraham also stated that peaceful settlement of disputes is becoming important for today’s international community. In addition, President Abraham expressed his deep respect and gratitude towards Prime Minister Abe’s strong commitment to the rule of law.
3. Furthermore, Prime Minister Abe stated that there is a growing expectation from the international community towards international courts as a means for peaceful settlement of disputes, and that it is important for the ICJ to continue to render impartial and fair judgments in order to maintain its crucial role.
Fourth High-Level Dialogue between JICA and World Bank Group: Agreement to Collaborate on Private Sector Finance Mobilization towards the SDGs, Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and Nutrition
JICA, Friday, July 28, 2017
On July 20 and 21, 2017, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the World Bank Group (WBG) held the Fourth JICA-WBG High-Level Dialogue at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C. The heads of the two agencies co-chaired the meeting, in which further partnership between the agencies was discussed.
JICA President Shinichi Kitaoka and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim discussed seven topics, the three thematic issues of "Health (universal health coverage (UHC) and nutrition),” “Infrastructure and Resilience (sustainable urban development and resilience/DRR and reconstruction from crises/disasters)" and “Private Sector,” and the four regions of the “East Asia and Pacific,” “South Asia,” “Africa,” and the “Middle East and North Africa (MENA).” Both institutions’ vice presidents and senior staffs discussed the seven topics in more detail at separate sessions.
The Private Sector was newly added as a topic of discussion. The discussion was led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) from the WBG, and it focused on the mobilization of private sector finance, reflecting an enormous gap in development finance.
In the Dialogue, the two agencies agreed to strengthen their partnership in private sector finance and development, to promote UHC globally, including in Africa, to work jointly on urban development, to enhance collaboration in resilience building and private sector development in South East Asia, the Pacific, and South Asia, and to work toward stabilization of the MENA region.
Besides the two presidents, more than 60 staff members from the institutions participated in the discussion, including Senior Vice-President (Sr. VP) Yasushi Kanzaki, Sr. VP Hiroshi Kato, Sr. VP Hidetoshi Irigaki, Sr. VP Shinya Ejima, VP Masahito Enomoto, and VP Takao Toda from the JICA side. From the World Bank Group, they included Sheila Redzepi, VP External and Corporate Relations; Makhtar Diop, VP Africa; Annette Dixon, VP South Asia; Hafez Ghanem, VP MENA; Victoria Kwakwa, VP East Asia and Pacific; Keith Hansen, VP Human Development; Timothy Evans, Senior Director (SD) for Health, Nutrition and Population; Ede Ijjasz-Vasquez, SD for the Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience; John Roome, SD for Climate Change (from the World Bank); Nena Stoiljkovic, VP Blended Finance and Partnerships (from the IFC); and Keiko Honda, Executive VP and CEO (from the MIGA).
The two agencies will continue to hold regular discussions at various levels to further strengthen their partnership.
