As an international NGO, we address issues that transcend national borders, and supplement or surpass governmental efforts to overcome such problems. The issues we address cover such vital areas as education, health, and food security. These are the fundamental building blocks of society—without them a nation will not be able to live up to its potential and may slip into instability.
The solutions we offer lend speed and flexibility to societies' efforts to heal themselves. Our primary focus is to stimulate broad social change. In particular, we committed to human resource development. Nippon Foundation scholarships and fellowships have already benefited around 30,000 of the world's best and brightest, providing them with the tools needed to lead their countries and regions away from strife and suffering. These programs reach all levels of society, from university students receiving grants from the Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund, to the network of scholars on the Asian Public Intellectuals Fellowship Program who are researching the situations in each other's countries. In places where the needs are more basic, we are striving to reach an even broader stratum of society through the construction of hundreds of elementary schools.
Another basic issue with a vast impact on a nation's vitality is health. We have pursued initiatives in this field since the 1970s, including our tireless efforts to eliminate leprosy and the stigmas attached to victims of the disease. These efforts have borne fruit and now the vast majority of nations where the disease had once been endemic have it under control.
Similarly, our work to assist disabled persons has had a deep impact. For instance, we have developed programs that enable the blind and deaf in developing nations to pursue education at the same level as the general population. We have also provided 30,000 prostheses in Vietnam and have trained around 200 specialists to build these artificial limbs, thereby enhancing the freedom of movement of countless people in Southeast Asia. We strive to tailor our programs to the specific needs of a culture, as with our Mongolian medicine box program, which addresses the basic health needs of a nomadic population by offering portable sets of traditional remedies.
Nothing leads more directly to conflict than hunger. Here, too, we have been working for over 20 years to alleviate this problem. Efforts in this area include training farmers on how to not only feed themselves but also produce a surplus to sell, thereby raising their living standards and boosting the local economy. This work has reached areas of the world that are vulnerable to famine but have the potential to produce much more—such as sub-Saharan Africa and the rocky highlands of Southeast Asia.
By getting to the root of these fundamental problems, the Nippon Foundation is opening possibilities for a brighter future, helping to bring about broad, long-lasting change.