Mr. Yasuo Fukuda, Prime Minister of Japan

Japan’s new Prime Minister, long-term advocate of population and development issues

Veteran politician Yasuo Fukuda, elected new Prime Minister of Japan after a vote among the country’s parliamentarians on 25 September, was the Chairman of the Bangkok-based Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD). As noted by a special edition of AFPPD’s newsletter, Mr. Fukuda served as AFPPD Chair since the 2005 General Assembly of this organization. He also served as Chair of the Japanese Parliamentarians Federation on Population and Chair of the Asian Population and Development Association.

Readers of Population Headliners would recall that Mr. Fukuda had kindly responded to a few of our questions in the September-October 2006 issue of our newsletter (No. 314) , prior to the convening in Bangkok of the Third International Parliamentarians Conference on the Implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action.

Reflecting on the likely direction of future population policies in Asia and the Pacific, Mr. Fukuda noted: “Population policies and programmes will have to respond to current as well as anticipated future challenges. Continued emphasis and support is needed to further improve reproductive health, particularly of young people who are most vulnerable and comprise the largest cohort...”

“In the not-too-distant future, more and more countries will enter the new demographic regime characterized by population ageing and increased migration. These trends, together with increases in the level of income,will have significant impacts on the environment and the quality of life and will need to be part of future population policies and programmes”.