Senator Buarque was, until 23 January 2004, Minister of Education of Brazil and is a leading member of the Labor Party (PT). As Governor of the Federal District of Brasília (1995-1999), he introduced stipends to assist poor families to send their children to school; this scheme contributed to dramatic improvements in school attendance and has become a model for poverty alleviation initiatives both in Brazil and globally. An engineer with a French doctorate, Senator Buarque previously served as Rector of the University of Brasilia (1985-1989) and has held a wide range of other Brazilian and international posts.

The lecture will begin at 4:30 p.m. in the U Thant Conference Hall of UN House. UNU Rector Hans van Ginkel will deliver opening and closing remarks as well as moderate a question and answer session following Senator Buarque's presentation. Simultaneous Japanese-English interpretation will be provided.

An informal Apéritif will be held from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. in the UN House 2nd floor Reception Hall. Media representatives are cordially invited to attend.

The lecture is open to the public, but advance registration is required. Those wishing to attend can obtain a registration form online (http://archive.unu.edu/nagai-lectures/4Nagai-reply.doc) or by contacting Ms. Soisik Habert at UNU (tel: 03-5467-1220; fax: 03-3499-2828; e-mail: Soisik Habert).

The annual Michio Nagai Memorial Lecture pays tribute to the late Dr. Michio Nagai, former Minister of Education, Science and Culture of Japan. Dr. Nagai was one of the leading figures behind the development of UNU and the decision by the Government of Japan to invite UNU to locate its headquarters in Tokyo. He also s

erved as Senior Adviser to the UNU Rector for many years. Previous lecturers in the series have been Prof. Akito Arima, Former Minister of Education and Former President of the University of Tokyo; Dr. Yasuo Miyakawa, Professor, Graduate School of Social and Cultural Studies, Kyushu University; and Prof. Justin Thorens, former Rector of the University of Geneva and former Chair of the UNU Council.