- Human Resources Development: the Key to Nation Building

Human resource development activities are also contributing to strengthening mutual respect and friendship ties between Japanese experts and their counterparts in developing countries.     Human resources development is the key to nation building. This philosophy could also be said to constitute a belief of Japan rooted in its own development experience after World War II, and in the experience it gained through providing international cooperation in East Asia.     Developing outstanding human resources that will be leaders in nation building in developing countries is an important factor to ensure the success of medium- to long-term development efforts by developing countries themselves. Moreover, to respond to the advances of globalization, developing and developed countries need to work together to establish cooperative relations that enable prompt access to and sharing of necessary information and support.     Human resources development cooperation using Japan's ODA is implemented throughout the world, covering a wide range of fields necessary for the national infrastructure of recipient countries including agriculture, forestry and fisheries, health care, education, vocational training, administration, and environmental conservation.

A leading Thai university grows with Japan's ODA

Thailand King Mongkut's Institute of Technology, Ladkarabang

A Japanese computer program expert giving instructions to university students     In 1961 Japan established the Nondhaburi Telecommunications Training Center to develop technicians in the field of telecommunications, which was a primitive industry in Thailand at the time. The center was the first overseas training institution that was set up with Japan's ODA. This is the first step in Japan's cooperation for King Mongkut's Institute of Technology, Ladkarabang (KMITL).     Today, with six departments in the field of engineering as well as the graduate schools and the information center, the KMITL is a highly respected university in the field in Thailand.     The research activities and their achievements in three departments, telecommunication, electronics and computer science, in particular, are leading the country's academic work. These three departments have been developed with support from Japan. In recent years, they are home to Japan's Third Country Training Programs for countries in Southeast Asia, such as Laos. Note: The Third Country Training Programs are held in selected host countries (in this case, Thailand), which recruits participants from both the host country and neighboring countries to receive training in the host country's institutions.

A success story transcending the boundaries of the African continent

Kenya Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology

The AICAD facilities are built on the campus of the university.     The government of Kenya had a grand plan to establish a new institution for developing local experts in the fields of agriculture and technology. In 1977, at the request of the Kenyan government, Japan started technical cooperation for vocational training programs in these fields, while donating grant aid for building school facilities and providing the necessary equipment for academic work at the school. About 15 years after such cooperation started, the institution has become the fifth national university in Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.     In 2002, a new project started to transfer the university's successful achievements all over Africa in the framework of the African Institute for Capacity Development (AICAD). Japan supported the AICAD facilities situated in Jomo Kenyatta University. Note: AICAD is an autonomous institute committed to identifying problems of poverty and working to reduce poverty in Africa through capacity development. It is a joint venture between the three countries of East Africa: Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, with the support of the government of Japan.

Environmental issues tackled with Japan's experience

China Japan-China Friendship Environmental Protection Center

A Japanese researcher and his Chinese counterpart of the center are jointly working on the migration of yellow sand.     Japan started technical cooperation at the Japan-China Friendship Environmental Protection Center in Beijing in 1992, having worked with China to build the center since 1990. In the course of the cooperation activities, basic knowledge and technical know-how concerning research, training and monitoring on environmental issues were transferred to Chinese experts.     The center moved on to standardizing environmental monitoring techniques, establishing a pollution protection technology suitable to the Chinese situation, and developing human resources in the field of environmental education.     With these technical transfers, the center was expected to play a pivotal role in tackling various issues in the field.

A former agriculture expert praised at the state funeral

Bhutan "Dasho" Keiji Nishioka

The late "Dasho" Nishioka (second from right) working with Bhutan's traditional cloth     Keiji Nishioka was dispatched as an agriculture expert to Bhutan in 1964, introducing rice culture techniques from Japan that were new to the country and working with local counterparts and farmers. He continued to stay in Bhutan after his two-year assignment period was over, and worked in the country for 28 years.     In 1980, in honor of his dedication to development in Bhutan's agriculture, Nishioka received "Dasho," an honorable title from His Majesty the King of Bhutan. When he died there in 1992, a state funeral for "Dasho" Nishioka was held with the participation of many Bhutanese.

The safe motherhood initiatives taken further

Brazil The Maternal and Child Health Improvement Project in North-East Brazil

Seminars for local women to understand safety and natural childbirth.     The Maternal and Child Health Improvement Project started in 1996 in the State of Cear located in Northeast Brazil. The project aimed to initiate the development of Safe Motherhood initiatives, newly introducing maternity nurses as part of the medical profession in Brazil and promoting natural childbirth with less medical support.    Utilizing successful human resource development activities, heartwarming care is provided for expectant mothers, and more women are expected to undergo natural childbirth rather than caesarean sections.

Basic education for children

Afghanistan Back-to-School Campaign

A Japanese NGO staffer supports Afghan school children with textbooks and basic education kits, which are provided in UNICEF's Back-to-School Campaign.    After the provisional government was established in Afghanistan in December 2001, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) introduced a back-to-school campaign that aimed to send about 1.5 million children back to classrooms by March 23, 2002, the first day of the new school term.   The campaign also provided more than seven million textbooks and notebooks as well as 18,000 black boards and basic education kits for children and their teachers, while training programs for teachers were conducted and many schools were refurbished with newly provided desks and chairs.   Japan donated US$12 million, including governmental aid and the amount collected through the Japan UNICEF Association's fund drive, out of US$19 million as a total amount for the campaign.   Also, six Japanese NGOs dispatched 11 volunteers to the UNICEF Afghanistan office to support the campaign.

Contents
[Japan's ODA: Accomplishment of 50 Years] ● Japan's ODA Contributing to World Development...4 ● East Asia's Economic Development and Japan's ODA...5 ● Japan's Contribution in Human Resource Development...6		[Progress of 50 Years of ODA] ● System Development Period (1954-1976)...8 ● Systematic Expansion Period (1977-1991)...10 ● Policy and Philosophy Enhancement Period (1992-2002)...12 (Original ODA Charter Period) ● Meeting the Challenges of a New Era (2003-Present)...14 (Revised ODA Charter)