I extend my warm welcome to all of you and thank you for coming to our foundation and to this meeting. I apologize that I speak to you in Japanese; it is embarrassing that I have to use an interpreter when I am asked to speak to representatives of higher education institutions. When I was in school I did not study very hard as far as English is concerned. It is a pity, however, that you cannot appreciate my "beautiful" Japanese!

　

This year in Japan, the cherry trees blossomed early, summer came early, autumn was early, and it snowed yesterday. I was surprised because I returned from India the day before yesterday and the next day it snowed in Tokyo. I recall a Swedish proverb, a bride who gets married on a snowy day will be happy later in life. To persons of my generation, this saying does not have much meaning because we are too old to appreciate it. Anyway, we are experiencing a very cold winter, so those of you who have come from warm countries must be surprised to see snow in Tokyo and in early-December.

　

It is fifteen years since the conception of the SYLFF Program. The SYLFF Program was created while it was still the time of the Cold War. in 1939, my father adopted the creed, "the world is one family and all mankind are brothers and sisters." The Nippon Foundation is the result of his determination to initiate humanitarian activities that cross borders and transcend political, religious, and racial differences. During the Cold War, I believe this kind of thinking was unique. Looking from the present age of globalization, I cannot help but think that my father had a very far-sighted vision. It was based on this philosophy of my father that I initiated the SYLFF Program. Had I received an excellent university education, I would probably not have thought of such a program.

　

Globalization is advancing, and the world is facing trade-related, financial, and environmental problems, as well as the problems of terrorism and of poverty. These kinds of problems cannot be solved by a single nation. We live in an age in which people who receive higher education need to act not only as leaders in their respective fields but also need to think and act from a global perspective. This was the initial idea behind the creation of the SYLFF Program.

　

I now take this opportunity to briefly introduce activities of The Nippon Foundation that is housed in this building, and is a sister foundation of The Tokyo Foundation with which you are all familiar. The Nippon Foundation provides the funds for SYLFF endowments, whereas The Tokyo Foundation is responsible for the administration of these endowments.

　

The Nippon Foundation is the largest foundation in Japan and uses its annual revenues, amounting to Approximately US$400 million in various ways. As far as international activities are concerned, our main areas of activity are education, public health, and agricultural projects for productivity improvement in Africa. In short, we focus on developing activities in the general field of basic human needs.

　

We particularly emphasize the importance of education. We therefore devote our efforts to human resource development programs in different parts of the world because we believe that education will help people nurture the spirit of self-reliance. I realize that it takes time for people to develop, but this is probably the most efficient way to extend our assistance programs in different parts of the world. Eventually, leaders who possess the spirit of self-reliance will be able to build their nations and societies.

　

I dare not give a lecture on the importance of education in front of so many representatives of institutions of higher education, but allow me to touch upon a few examples of projects in which we are directly involved. In Cambodia, we are building elementary schools, particularly in rural and mountainous areas where there are still members of the former government. It takes only US$30,000 to build a school with five classrooms and washroom facilities. An average teacher's salary is US$15 per month. We have decided to pay US$30 to local teachers in order to secure high quality tuition. This is only one example of helping people, but we have similar programs in other countries as well. From the experience of implementing projects like this, I find that people always appreciate educational opportunities offered to their offspring, even in societies where there is still strong negative sentiment against the government. Education plays a very important role in building a stable society.

　

As for higher education, I personally believe that the 21^st century can be called the century of the ocean. I am confident that ocean governance will become a major issue in this century. However, no comprehensive network exists that addresses maritime issues. I am now trying to develop such a network of maritime universities around the world.

　

On a smaller scale we are implementing a project geared towards the hearing-impaired. Unfortunately, education for the hearing-expired is very restricted, and the purpose of this project is to expand opportunities for the hearing-impaired to pursue higher education. We are fortunate to live in the age of information technology that makes it easier to make this possible. For this purpose we work together with two excellent institutions that specialize in the education of the hearing-impaired, Gallaudet University and the Rochester Institute of Technology. In cooperation with these two universities, we are building a broader network around the world. We are currentlyfocusing on offering education for the hearing-impaired in China, Russia, The Philippines, and the Czech Republic. With better educational opportunities, I believe that persons with hearing impairments will be in a better position to find employment and integrate into society.

　

There are many more examples I can cite, but I would like to limit my list to two that might help you understand the philosophy that underlies our activities. Today we witness strong tensions between international institutions, governments, and NGOs. These tensions can be observed in many areas such as trade and commerce, the environment, and human rights. It seems to be a generally accepted assumption that governments and NGOs are not able to work in harmony. I do not believe that this is always the case.

　

Allow me to introduce a project that we are conducting in Africa as a good example of amicable relations between international institutions and NGOs. This is a long-standing project that we have been promoting for 17 years in 14 countries in Africa. The project aims to assist poor farmers to increase their crops. These are people who live in constant fear of hunger. We began the project as a grass-roots project, and now we are working together not only with local governments but also with international institutions, such as The World Bank which partially sponsors this project. We have managed to establish this cooperation in spite of the fact that international organizations were not interested in our project at first, as large-scale international institutions are usually very pessimistic about the prospects of projects in Africa although they try not to leave such an impression. The reason we concentrate on agriculture in Africa is that 70% of the population are farmers and without the success of agriculture the problem of poverty in Africa cannot be solved. This project is a very good example where NGOs, local governments, and international institutions can work together hand in hand, and we continue our efforts to build a model projects addressing poverty in Africa that other organizations will be willing to follow.

　

When we develop projects like this, we do not try to control the projects nor do we try to give instructions to the local people. The reason is that all people have their own culture, traditions, and history. We respect these. We do not want them to change their own ways of doing things, but instead we try to look at things from their viewpoint so that we are able to understand their perspective and develop mutual trust. Trust and confidence are absolutely essential for success and this is the position we always take when implementing projects in developing countries.

　

Another project I would like to introduce is our project for the elimination of Hansen's disease or leprosy. As I mentioned earlier, I have just returned from a brief trip to India, which I made for the purpose of implementing this project there. Our target is to eliminate leprosy from the face of the Earth by 2005. Leprosy is not simply a medical disease; it is also a social disease as it is always associated with social discrimination and prejudice.. Throughout the history of mankind, regardless of the country or region, leprosy patients have always experienced merciless discrimination. In spite of this, leprosy has never been discussed as a human rights problem. The reason is that leprosy patients were by rule abandoned and isolated even by their family members, and there was no one to stand up on their behalf and raise their voices. When we started this program with the World Health Organization (WHO) thirty years ago, no one was interested in this kind of effort, and no one believed that it would be possible to eliminate leprosy. However, in the 1980s, for five years we continuously offered an effective medicine for leprosy to patients free of charge. As a result 7 we were able to eliminate leprosy in 116 countries around the world. Leprosy now exists in only six countries in the world. What I am trying to say is that as long as we have strong determination and as long as we persevere in our efforts we will be able to solve this problem. The six countries in which leprosy still exists are India, Nepal, Myanmar, Mozambique, Madagascar, and Brazil. Our goal is to eliminate leprosy from these remaining six countries by 2005. One day you may see a small article somewhere in a newspaper reporting that leprosy has finally been eliminated. If no such article appears by 2005, you can be certain that I will continue my efforts and that leprosy will be eliminated sooner or later.

　

You have probably recognized throughout my long presentation about the projects of The Nippon Foundation my strong belief that the most important factors in

implementing international projects are continuity and persistence, followed by regular evaluation. I understand that at some of your institutions the SYLFF Program is a comparatively small program.. However, I believe that it is a unique program as it involves not only students but also administrators. I also think that it is very important that all of you gather together and discuss issues regarding the SYLFF Program in the form of meetings such as this. We continue our efforts to further expand the SYLFF network, and we always welcome your constructive feedback. In Japan, we have a saying that it is impossible to promote understanding without face-to-face communication. I believe that even in the age of information technology direct and personal communication remains very important, and I think that this conference is exactly such an opportunity.

　

Again, I welcome all of you to the foundation and to Japan. I also express my deep gratitude for your efforts and cooperation, and I look forward to working with you to further develop the SYLFF network.

　

Thank you.