V. OTHER AID

1. ODA through International Organizations

    The stability and advancement of developing countries is an important challenge confronting the international community through such multilateral organizations as the United Nations and the Organization for Economic Development (OECD). This issue is also widely debated in the UN General Assembly, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC). A number of assistance programs aimed at the improvement and development of economic and social living standards in developing countries are delivered by the World Bank and other multilateral development banks (MDB's), and through international organizations focusing on technical cooperation such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).
    Bilateral assistance and assistance delivered through international institutions each has its own advantages. For the former, these include the fact that (a) it can be flexibly and closely tailored to meet Japan's policy intentions, and (b) it creates a direct impression of Japan's aid efforts in the recipient country and contributes to the enhancement of friendly relationships with the recipient country.
    The advantages enjoyed by assistance delivered through international institutions include the fact that (a) the advanced specialist knowledge and experience of each institution can be fully harnessed, (b) aid can be delivered in a politically neutral manner, and (c) the global aid network can be fully utilized.
    It is essential that efforts continue be made to enhance and expand ODA, maximizing the advantages of each form of assistance -bilateral or multilateral- while striving for balance between the two. That is to say, the organic integration of bilateral and multilateral assistance will confer numerous benefits for all of the recipient countries, Japan, and the international institutions involved. In other words, delivering assistance in a cooperative framework involving donor countries and international institutions will enable information, expertise, human resources, and funds to be delivered in a complementary manner, boosting the efficiency and effectiveness of assistance in a form that is known as multi-bi assistance.
    In this area, Japan has joined with the International Development Association (IDA) in a joint financing initiative formulated by the World Bank, the Special Program of Assistance for Low-Income Debt-Distressed Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SPA). The aim of SPA is to support structural adjustment measures in debt-stricken low-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. As well, Japan and the UNDP promoted collaboration and consultation at the field level aimed at promoting multi-bi cooperation.
    Japan actively promotes co-financing with MDBs, paying close attention to priority sectors such as the environment. One example is a forest sector program in the Philippines in which the project formation and funding process were undertaken jointly by OECF and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
    Cooperation delivered through international organizations can be broadly categorized into four types, depending on the route by which the aid is provided: (i) via the UNDP and other United Nations bodies, (ii) via MDBs such as the World Bank, (iii) via regional development institutions such as the Asian Productivity Organization (APO), and (iv) via specialist institutions in certain sectors such as the CGIAR, which aims to support international research in agriculture.
    Except in those cases involving the dispatch of experts to these organizations, where it is classified as technical cooperation, cooperation takes the form of contributions and cost-sharing, or capital subscription.
    Assessed contributions are the financial amounts furnished to an international organization by the member countries of the organization. The regulations stipulating the levels of assessed contributions are usually laid down in the agreement establishing the organization. The assessed contribution is typically calculated by multiplying the total budget for each fiscal year of the organization by the contribution rate for each member country.
    The amount of voluntary contribution is determined by each member country upon close scrutiny of the contribution requested by the organization.
In general, the total amount to be paid for subscription of all member countries and the amount to be paid by each member country depend on the scope of future activities of the organization and arrangement of subscription shares among all member countries.
    Chart 31 shows the procedures for payment of assessed and voluntary contributions to international organizations.

The Assessed Contribution and Voluntary Contribution Payment Procedures

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