White Paper: Govt to Boost Aid to Global South

Jiji Press

17:24 JST, March 14, 2023

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The government in an annual report Tuesday vowed to strengthen its assistance for emerging and developing countries in the so-called Global South, such as those in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, many of which face serious energy and food shortages.

The 2022 White Paper on Development Cooperation, submitted by Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi to the day’s cabinet meeting, referred to the term Global South, comprising mainly Southern Hemisphere nations, for the first time.

“As this year’s chair of the Group of Seven major countries, Japan will lead the efforts to strengthen our engagement in the Global South by actively contributing to the solution of issues such as climate change, energy, food, health and development,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at the day’s press conference.

In 2022, Japan decided a total of some $1.6 billion in aid after Russia started to invade Ukraine in February that year, according to the white paper.