Meeting of the Headquarters for Comprehensively Promoting Children-Related Policies

On January 30, Governor Koike attended a “meeting of the headquarters for comprehensively promoting children-related policies.”

At the opening of her speech, Governor Koike said, “To ensure healthy growth of children, treasures of our society, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has set a ‘children-first’ approach and has been working as one to advance children-centered policies. These efforts have certainly borne fruit, with approximately 90% of those families raising children in Tokyo feeling that ‘Tokyo is a good place to raise children.’ Furthermore, the number of births in Tokyo from January through November last year increased by 1.0% from a year earlier, and it is now certain that the figure for the whole year will rise for the first time in nine years.

“These results were obtained thanks to seamless policies carried out by the bureaus of the TMG concerned, working in unison, by focusing on those initiatives which Tokyo citizens can empathize with. Creating a society brimming with the smiling faces of children and in which the desire to have children is fulfilled is exactly what we aim to build a ‘children-first’ Tokyo. Looking toward a bright future, we will work as one across the entire government to take on bold challenges with a sense of speed, while being considerate of the voices and feelings of children and families raising children,” the governor pledged.

The governor also promised, “We will create an environment where those who wish to have children can do so and raise them with peace of mind and where children who will lead the next generation can grow up to develop to their fullest potential. On the other hand, the environment surrounding children is changing constantly, making it difficult to foresee the future. That is why it is essential to carefully listen to the real voices and feelings of children and families raising children, and to constantly accumulate the latest evidence. We will decisively take effective measures to address those issues that have come to light and work on them by making a pre-emptive move with agility.”

In closing her address, the governor emphasized, “Placing the ‘children-first’ approach as an unwavering axis of the administration of Tokyo, we will swiftly and seamlessly implement policies that children and families raising children truly need. We will shift from those policies which citizens of Tokyo can ‘empathize with’ to those which they can ‘realize’ the benefit and toward a Tokyo in which ‘people’ can shine even more brightly. With ‘children-first’ as our catchword, let us all work together to build a brighter future.”