Official
Development Assistance
Japan continues to weigh ODA (*1) as a key instrument in implementing
the country's diplomacy. This consists of four major components:
(1) Technical cooperation, (2) Grant aid (the supplying of funds
that do not have to be repaid), (3) Government yen-based loans
with low interest and for long-term development projects, and
(4) Economic assistance disbursed through multilateral organizations.
In June 1992, the government announced an ODA Charter that provides
a basic aid philosophy and principles. Japan's ODA is implemented
in accordance with four principles. These are: (1) That environmental
conservation and development should be pursued in tandem; (2)
That any use of ODA for military purposes or for aggravation
of international conflicts should be avoided; (3) That full
attention should be paid to trends in recipient countries' military
expenditures, their development and production of weapons of
mass destruction and missiles, and their export and import of
arms; and (4) That full attention should be paid to efforts
in promoting democratization and the introduction of a market-based
economy and to the situation of basic human rights and freedoms
in the recipient country.
In response to the growing demand of a comprehensive review
of ODA policy against the background of the severe economic
and fiscal situation, the government in August 1999 formulated
a medium-term policy as guidelines for ODA over the following
five years (fiscal 1999-2003). The key points of the mid-term
policy package include a focus on the "soft" aspect
of ODA (such as human resource development), emphasis on the
Asian region, support for and closer coordination with non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), and wide-ranging disclosure of information
to the public.
Due to the tight fiscal situation, however, ODA spending is
on a declining trend. For fiscal 2003, the government reduced
ODA spending by 5.8% from the previous year to ¥857.7 billion,
marking the fourth straight year of decline.
United Nations Peacekeeping Operations
Japan's participation in the UN-sponsored peacekeeping operations
began in 1992 when it sent a group of Self-Defense Forces (SDF)
personnel to Cambodia following an enactment of the United Nations
Peacekeeping Cooperation Law.(*2) Since then, Japan has joined
a number of peacekeeping missions including those in Mozambique,
Rwanda, the Golan Heights, and East Timor.
To ensure that Japan's participation in UN peacekeeping operations
not be seen as breaching the repudiation of the use of force
stated in Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan, participation
on the basis of the International Peace Cooperation Law is subject
to the so-called five principles (*3): (1) Cease-fire agreement
must have already been reached among the parties of armed conflict,
(2) Consent for the undertaking of UN peacekeeping operations
as well as Japan's participation in such operations must have
been obtained from the host countries as well as the parties
of armed conflict, (3) The operations must strictly maintain
impartiality not favoring any of the parties of armed conflict,
(4) Should any of the above-mentioned requirements in the guidelines
cease to be fulfilled, the Japanese government may withdraw
SDF Units, (5) The use of weapons should be limited to the minimum
necessary to protect the lives of personnel (self-defense).
Until 2001, however, there was a freeze on the SDF's participation
in certain duties of UN peacekeeping forces, including monitoring
of the disarming of combatants, stationing of personnel in and
patrolling of buffer zones, and collection and disposal of abandoned
weapons. In December 2001, the International Peace Cooperation
Law was amended to remove the freeze, giving the SDF more latitude
in its overseas operations.
NGO
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the number of
Japanese non-governmental organizations (NGOs) engaged in international
cooperation activity today is estimated to be over 400(*4).
Until the mid-1980s, Japanese NGOs' activities, having a history
of more than 40 years, were limited mainly in the areas of education,
health/medical services and agriculture partly because of a
lack of sufficient financial resources.
Since the late 1980s, however, the Japanese government has closely
collaborated with these NGOs and has actively supported NGO-led
projects by extending subsidies mainly through the Foreign Ministry.
The government launched the NGO Project Subsidy Scheme in 1989
to provide financial assistance of an amount, in principle,
between ¥500,000 and ¥10 million per project.(*5) In
fiscal year 2002 the government paid out a total of ¥411
million to this scheme, covering 127 projects carried out by
66 NGOs in 37 countries. The government also provides grants
to Japanese NGOs engaged in emergency humanitarian relief.
In August 2000 a group of Japanese NGOs, the Foreign Ministry,
and the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) jointly
established a new scheme called the Japan Platform (*6) for
providing emergency humanitarian relief more effectively and
quickly in cases of natural disaster, armed conflict, or the
outflow of refugees abroad. In the wake of the collapse of Saddam
Hussein's regime in Iraq, the Japan Platform has been showing
an exceptionally high profile and playing many important roles
in rescuing refugees and carrying out other key duties, including
medical services and reconstruction of infrastructure.
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