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Japan's ODA Charter



It struck me that some people might be interested in Japan's ODA Charter,
especially in light of the promised grant for the  humanitarian reconstruction
of turbines for a hydro-electric power station (following the humanitarian
repairs carried out on Rangoon airport a couple of years back) and the arrival
of a new administration in Tokyo.  DA


      JAPAN'S OFFICAL DEVELOPMENT CHARTER

     Cabinet Decisions
     June 30, 1992

1. Basic Philosophy

Many people are still suffering from famine and poverty in the developing 
countries, which constitute a great majority among
countries in the world. From a humanitarian viewpoint, the international 
community can ill afford to ignore this fact. The world is
now striving to build a society where freedom, human rights, democracy and 
other values are ensured in peace and prosperity.
We must recognize the fact of interdependence among nations of the 
international community and that stability and the further
development of the developing world is indispensable to the peace and 
prosperity of the entire world.

Environmental conservation is also a task for all humankind, which all 
countries, developed and developing alike, must work
together to tackle.

It is an important mission for Japan, as a peace-loving nation, to play a 
role commensurate with its position in the world to
maintain world peace and ensure global prosperity.

Bearing these points in mind, Japan attaches central importance to the 
support for the self-help efforts of developing countries
towards economic take-off. It will therefore implement its ODA to help 
ensure the efficient and fair distribution of resources
and "good governance" in developing countries through developing a wide 
range of human resources and socioeconomic
infrastructure, including domestic systems, and through meeting the basic 
human needs (BHN), thereby promoting the sound
economic development of the recipient countries. In so doing, Japan will 
work for globally sustainable development while
meeting the requirements of environmental conservation.

Such assistance is expected to further promote the existing friendly 
relations between Japan and all other countries, especially
those in the developing world.

2. Principles

Taking into account comprehensively each recipient country's request, its 
socioeconomic conditions, and Japan's bilateral
relations with the recipient country, Japan's ODA will be provided in 
accordance with the principles of the United Nations
Charter (especially those of sovereign equality and non-intervention in 
domestic matters), as well as the following four
principles.

(1)Environmental conservation and development should be pursued in tandem.
(2)Any use of ODA for military purposes or for aggravation of international 
conflicts should be avoided.
(3)Full attention should be paid to trends in recipient countries' military 
expenditures, their development and production of
      mass destruction weapons and missiles, their export and import of 
arms, etc., so as to maintain and strengthen
      international peace and stability, and from the viewpoint that 
developing countries should place appropriate priorities in
      the allocation of their resources in their own economic and social 
development.
(4)Full attention should be paid to efforts for promoting democratization 
and introduction of a market-oriented economy,
      and the situation regarding the securing of basic human rights and 
freedoms in the recipient country.

3. Priority

(1)Regions
      Historically, geographically, politically and economically, Asia is a 
region close to Japan. East Asian countries, especially
      member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations 
(ASEAN), constitute one of the most economically
      dynamic regions in the world, and it is important for the world 
economy as a whole to sustain and promote the economic
      development of these countries. There are, however, some Asian 
countries where large segments of the population still
      suffer from poverty. Asia, therefore, will continue to be a priority 
region for Japan's ODA.

      It is also necessary to be mindful of the poverty and the economic 
difficulties in the world as a whole. Japan will therefore
      extend cooperation, befitting its position in the world, to Africa, 
the Middle East, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and
      Oceania. Due consideration will be paid in particular to Least among 
Less Developed Countries (LLDCs).

(2)Issues
      (a) Approach to Global Problems
      Recognizing that it is important for developed and developing 
countries to cooperate in tackling global problems such as
      the environment and population, Japan will support efforts being made 
by developing countries to overcome these
      problems.

      (b) Basic Human Needs
      To help people suffering from famine and poverty, refugees, and 
others, Japan will provide assistance to the BHN sector
      and emergency humanitarian aid.

      (c) Human Resources Development, Research and Other Cooperation for 
Improvement and Dissemination of
      Technologies
      A priority of Japan's ODA will be placed on assistance to human 
resources development which, in the long term, is the
      most significant element of self help efforts towards socioeconomic 
development and is a basic factor for the
      nation-building of developing countries. Japan will also promote 
cooperation for the improvement and dissemination of
      technologies, such as research cooperation that will add to research 
and development as well as adaptive capabilities of
      developing countries.

      (d) Infrastructure Improvement
      Priority will be placed on assisting infrastructure improvement, 
which is a prerequisite to socioeconomic development.

      (e) Structural Adjustment
      Japan will provide support to structural adjustment, so that the 
entrepreneurship and the vitality of the private sector in
      recipient countries can be fully exerted in the market mechanisms, 
and to their efforts for a solution to the accumulated
      debt problem.

4. Measures for the Effective Implementation of Official Development 
Assistance

(1)Japan will promote intensive policy dialogues with recipient countries, 
with a view to collecting and analyzing relevant
      information on these countries, and sharing with them basic 
perceptions on their development policies, taking into
      account their requests and ideas.

(2)To respond to the various needs of developing countries in different 
stages of development, Japan's ODA will take
      advantage, to the maximum extent possible, of the merits of loans, 
grants, technical cooperation and other forms of
      assistance. All of these forms of assistance will be organically 
linked together and coordinated.

(3)When called for, there will be appropriate communication and cooperation 
with aid agencies of other donor countries,
      United Nations agencies and international financial institutions, as 
well as Japanese local governments and private
      organizations such as labor and business organizations. In 
particular, efforts will be made to ensure that Japan's
      perspective on ODA is adequately reflected in the cooperation through 
international organizations, while taking full
      advantage of the expertise and political neutrality of these 
organizations. There will also be cooperation with and
      appropriate support to non-governmental organizations (NGOs), while 
respecting their independence.

(4)Japan's own development policies and experiences, as well as those of 
countries in East and Southeast Asia which have
      succeeded in economic take-off, will be put to practical use.

(5)In implementing environmental ODA, Japan will make the best use of its 
technology and know-how, which it has
      acquired in the process of successfully making environmental 
conservation and economic development compatible.

(6)In order to contribute to the transfer of technology suitable to the 
level of development of the recipient countries, Japan
      will promote the development of relevant technologies and will 
provide such assistance as will enable the adequate
      utilization of the knowledge and technologies possessed by other 
developing countries.

(7)In transferring technology and know-how, Japan will make use of those 
possessed by the Japanese private sector as
      well as by the government, and provide support for technical 
cooperation by the private sector.

(8)In order to cope with transnational regional problems, Japan will 
cooperate more closely with international organizations
      and other¥53 frameworks for regional cooperation such as the 
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

(9)A close relationship will be maintained between ODA, direct investment 
and trade, so that those three can promote the
      development of developing countries organically. For this purpose, 
ODA will be more closely linked to and be
      supportive of economic cooperation in the private sector through 
trade insurance and such organizations as the
      Export-Import Bank of Japan.

(10)Cooperation and research to find and formulate adequate development 
projects will be enhanced. For the future
      improvement of its ODA, project evaluations, including third party 
evaluations and joint evaluations with recipients and
      other donors and organizations, will also be strengthened.

(11)Regional studies of developing countries, studies of development 
policy, and comprehensive evaluation of ODA will be
      further promoted.

(12)Full consideration will be given to the active participation of women 
in development, and to their obtaining benefits from
      development.

(13)Full consideration will be given to the socially weak, such as the 
disadvantaged, children and the elderly.

(14)Consideration will be given to redressing the gap between the rich and 
the poor and the gap among various regions in
      developing countries.

(15)Japan's ODA activities will be conducted with full care to see that 
they do not lead to injustice or corruption in the
      recipient countries.

5. Measures to Promote Understanding and Support at Home and Abroad

The following measures will be adopted to ensure that ODA is implemented 
with public understanding both at home and
abroad and to secure the participation of the Japanese people.

(1)Making ODA Information Public While taking into account such matters as 
diplomatic relations with recipient countries,
      more information regarding the ODA activities will be made available 
to the Diet and to the public.

(2)Enhancement of Public Relations and Development Education Organized 
public relations activities and educational
      programs on development assistance will be promoted.

6. ODA Implementation System

(1)Recruitment, Training and Utilization of Competent Aid Personnel
      In order to recruit, train and utilize fully the talents of competent 
ODA personnel, training institutes of aid experts will be
      enhanced to foster more development specialists, private enterprise 
consultants and others.

(2)Ensuring Effective and Efficient Mechanisms to Implement ODA
      Communication and consultation between relevant ministries and 
agencies will be promoted for the effective and efficient
      implementation of ODA. In addition, cooperation between the two 
aid-implementing organizations, the Japan
      International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Overseas Economic 
Cooperation Fund (OECF) will be intensified. At
      the same time, the ODA implementation functions of these two 
organizations will be improved. In order to obtain further
      cooperation from the private sector, efforts will be made to extend 
such support to this sector as will appropriately cover
      the related operating expenses.

(3)Ensuring the Safety of ODA Personnel Dispatched Overseas
      Continued efforts will be made to safeguard the lives and personal 
safety of ODA personnel dispatched to developing
      areas, and to provide necessary assistance in the event of unexpected 
incidents.