*2: OECD/DAC "Development Partnership Strategy"

In May 1996, the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) adopted a document entitled "Development Partnership Strategy (Shaping the 21st Century: The Contribution of Development Cooperation)," which identified certain goals and objectives for development assistance in the 21st century. The document aims to improve the living standards of all humankind and sets forth concrete goals and schedules for the achievement of these goals. The specific goals are as follows: (1) by 2015, a reduction by one-half of the proportion of people living in extreme poverty, (2) universal primary education in all countries by 2015, (3) elimination of gender disparity in primary and secondary education by 2005, (4) reduction by two-thirds in infant mortality rates by 2015, (5) reduction by three-fourths in maternal mortality rates by 2015, (6) access to reproductive health services by 2015, (7) formulation of national strategies for sustainable development by 2005, and (8) reversal of the deterioration in environmental resources by 2015. The document states that cooperation between the advanced and developing countries is indispensable to the achievement of these goals, and emphasizes the importance of global partnership.

*3: Least among Less-Developed Countries (LLDC)

LLDC refers to the least developed group of developing countries and is defined by the United Nations Development Program Committee on the following basis: per capita GDP (below $899 as of 1999), human resources development (average life expectancy, etc.), and vulnerability of economic structure (share of manufacturing in GDP, etc.). Currently, 48 countries are recognized as LLDCs (33 countries in Africa, eight in Asia, five in the Pacific, and two elsewhere).

1. Support for Poverty Alleviation Programs and Social Development

*4: "20/20 Initiative" for Social Development

Under this initiative, developing countries are to commit 20% of their national budget, and developed countries 20% of their ODA, to such areas in social development as to be given priority to human development (basic education, basic health services, drinking water, family planning, etc.). Proposed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), it was decided at the World Summit for Social Development (hosted by the United Nations in March 1995) that the goals of the 20/20 Initiative would be implemented by countries in agreement with the initiative's objective. Japan has met the goal of this initiative, as the annual share of social development commitments in its bilateral development assistance has exceeded the 20% mark in every year from 1993 to 1998.

*5: Initiative for a Caring World

Proposed by then prime Minister Hashimoto at the Lyon Summit in June 1996, the "Initiative for a Caring World" is aimed at finding solutions to the problems of various countries by sharing the knowledge and experiences of developed, as well as developing, countries concerning social security policies, covering such areas as public sanitation, health insurance, and pension systems.
Current projects targeting the developing countries include: promoting measures for global parasitic disease control; sharing of knowledge and experiences through international conferences for high-level administrators of social security; and, personnel training, dispatch of experts and acceptance of trainees for promoting the development of social security systems in developing countries.

*6: Women in Development (WID)

WID refers to "women in development." For details, see section (3) Women in Development (WID)/Gender in Developing Countries.

(1) Basic Education

*7: Japan's support for construction of school buildings

In the five-year period beginning in fiscal 1993, Japan provided assistance for the construction of approximately 16,000 school buildings. In Jordan, for instance, ODA loans have been used in the construction of 9% of all primary and secondary school buildings. In Nepal, Japanese grant assistance has been used to provide materials needed for the construction of school buildings, with entire communities participating in the actual construction work. Following this initiative, elementary school enrollment ratios in Nepal climbed from 64% in 1990 to 75% in 1994.

*8: Japan's contributions to United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) activities for the education of girls

Since fiscal 1993, Japan has annually contributed U.S.$1 million to UNICEF related activities.

(2) Health and Medical Care

*9: Incidence of polio

The annual global incidence of polio has dropped from approximately 35,000 cases in 1988 to approximately 3,200 cases in 1998. Japan has identified East Asia and the Pacific region as priority areas for assistance in polio control. Since fiscal 1993, Japan has implemented assistance totaling approximately �2.8 billion for providing polio vaccines, cold chain portable refrigerator for vaccines storage, and diagnostic and monitoring equipment. (This assistance amounts to approximately 35% of all assistance provided to these regions in the fight against polio.) As a result of these efforts, polio has been almost totally eliminated from these regions.

2. Support for Economic and Social Infrastructure

*10: Examples of Japanese assistance in Asia

In the fields of transportation and communications, Japan's ODA loans accounted for 38% of the total electrification of China's railways, approximately 32% of the construction of the highways in Bangkok, approximately 15% of the installation of all telephone lines in the Philippines, and the construction and expansion of the port of Colombo, which handles approximately 89% of all cargo shipments in Sri Lanka. In the area of energy, Japan has cooperated in the construction of about 24% of all power generating facilities in Malaysia, 18% in Indonesia, 15% in Thailand, 44% in Vietnam, 18% in Bangladesh, and 20% in Egypt. Japanese ODA has accounted for 60% of the water supply facilities in the city of Jakarta, and 56% of the sewerage treatment facilities in the Republic of Korea.

3. Human Resources Development and Intellectual Support

(1) Human Resources Development

*11: Human resources development

Since 1954, Japan has accepted more than 160,000 trainees. The geographic distribution of trainees accepted during fiscal 1997 (totaling 7,263 persons from 152 countries and regions) is as follows: 6,214 from Asia (50.6% of total), 2,381 from Latin America (19.4%), 1,046 from the Middle East (8.5%), and 1,602 from Africa (13%). Distribution by field is as follows: 2,440 in human resources development (19.9% of total), 2,340 in planning and administration (19.1%), 2,049 in public and public-sector enterprises (16.7%), 1,971 in agriculture, forestry and fisheries (16%), 1,398 in health and medical services (11.4%), and 991 in mining (8.1%).

*12: Third-country training

Third-country training refers to the acceptance of trainees by developing countries under financial and technical assistance from Japan. Such arrangements provide the advantage of training in neighboring countries with similar social and cultural environments. For instance, using technologies transferred from Japan, third-country training was provided in Thailand to trainees from Vietnam and Laos with Japan supporting this transfer of technologies from Thailand to third countries. During fiscal 1997, some 1,836 trainees participated in third-country training programs offered in 23 countries, including Thailand and Singapore in Asia, and Brazil, Chile, and Egypt.

(1) Support for Democratization

*13: Support for democratization

At the Lyon Summit held in 1996, Japan announced its initiative for "Partnership for Democratic Development" (PDD) aimed at supporting the democratization of developing countries. Specific forms of assistance include assistance for elections, reinforcement of civil society and human resources development. During the five-year period beginning in fiscal 1994, Japan has accepted 765 trainees in the field of democratization and has provided financial assistance to elections in 27 countries and regions.

4. Responding to Global Issues

(1) Environmental Conservation

*14: Environmental ODA

At the 1992 United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development (the so-called "Earth Summit" held in Rio de Janeiro), Japan announced that it would increase its environmental ODA commitments to between �900 billion and �1,000 billion for the period of fiscal 1992-1996. The actual amount of assistance came to approximately �1,440 billion during this period. This trend has continued in recent years. For example, of the 28 projects contained in Japan's fourth ODA loan package for China, 16 projects are focused on the environment in response to environmental deterioration triggered by economic growth. Japan is also promoting the "Japan-China Environmental Model Cities Plan" (covering the three cities of Chongqing, Gui Yang, and Dalian). The aim of this initiative is to develop successful examples of air pollution control and air quality improvement and present these as model cases for the rest of China.

*15: The Kyoto Initiative (Assistance to Developing Countries for Combating Global Warming)

In view of the third session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Kyoto in December 1997, Japan committed itself to environmental ODA initiatives focused on the problem of global warming as follows: (1) capacity development in fields relevant to global warming, (2) provision of ODA loans related to global warming on the most concessional conditions, and (3) provision of Japanese technology and experiences (know-how). In fiscal 1998, the most favorable ODA loan terms were applied to 20 global-warming related projects amounting to �243.3 billion, while about 1,000 people received JICA technical training in related fields.

(2) Population and AIDS

*16: Trends in world population

According to the joint United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the world population is projected to grow from about six billion in 1998 to more than eight billion by 2025. Most of this growth will occur in developing countries.

*17: People living with HIV/AIDS

According to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO), there were approximately 33.4 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the world as of the end of 1998, and approximately 2.5 million people died of AIDS during 1998.

*18: Global Issues Initiative on Population and AIDS (GII)

Japan announced GII as an independent initiative in 1994, which involved the commitment of approximately $3 billion in population and AIDS-related assistance to developing countries during a seven-year period beginning in fiscal 1994. From the perspective of reproductive health, GII contains direct assistance for population and family planning. In addition, GII supports a comprehensive approach to basic health and medical services, primary education for women and children, and the empowerment of women. In Indonesia, for instance, a project has been implemented that uses "mother and child health handbooks," which has resulted in lower maternal and infant mortality rates. As of the end of fiscal 1998, the cumulative amount of GII-related assistance reached approximately $3.7 billion to already exceed the seven-year goal established in 1994.

5. Support for Overcoming the Asian Currency and Economic Crisis and Promotion of Economic Structural Reform

*19: Special Yen Loans to assist economic structural reform

This scheme was announced in December 1998 at the Meeting between ASEAN Heads of State/Government and the Leaders of Peoples Republic of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea. The aim of the scheme is to stimulate the economies of Asian countries, to promote job creation, and to support infrastructure development conducive to economic structural reform. This program features a special facility of a maximum total of �600 billion to be provided over a three-year period on concessional terms. For the time being, the interest rate will be set at 1%, with a repayment period of 40 years.

6. Conflict, Disaster and Development

(1) Conflict and Development

*20: Japan's assistance to Palestine

Over a five-and-half-year period beginning in 1993, Japan provided $436 million in assistance to the Palestinian people. Assistance was provided through international organizations for strengthening administrative organizations, for the development of water and sewerage facilities, school building and other infrastructure projects, and improvement of education and basic health care services. In 1996, Japan began providing direct assistance to the Palestinian Authority and has provided a wide range of assistance toward improving living standards. In October 1997 and June 1998, Japan decided to assist in the construction of ten primary and secondary schools in the Gaza Strip.

*21: Recent Japanese humanitarian aid: aid for Kosovo

In April 1999, a Japan aid package of approximately $200 million for Kosovo was channeled through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other multilateral and bilateral means. This contribution is intended as humanitarian assistance for Kosovo refugees and displaced persons, assistance for affected neighboring countries, and support for the reconstruction of Kosovo.

*22: Anti-personnel landmine clearance and support for victims

On a monthly basis, there are approximately 2,000 landmine casualties among non-combatants throughout the world. In September 1997, the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction was adopted. The Tokyo Conference on Anti-Personnel Landmines, held in March 1997, adopted the Tokyo Guidelines for achieving "zero victims." To work toward the achievement of this goal, in November 1997 Japan announced that it would provide approximately $10 billion in assistance over a five-year period beginning in 1998.

7. Responding to Problems of Debt Relief

*23: Grant aid for debt relief

In accordance with the resolution adopted in 1978 by the Ninth Trade Development Board (TDB) of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Japan has been providing grant aid for debt relief to LLDCs with whom Japan has ODA loan arrangements, and to the countries most seriously affected by the oil crisis (MSAC). In the case of LLDCs, whenever repayments are received on ODA loans (according to loan arrangements signed during or before fiscal 1987), Japan provides scheme grants corresponding to the amount of principal and interest payments received. Japan has provided grant aid for debt relief amounting to approximately �340 billion in the period between fiscal 1978 and 1998.

*24: Cologne Summit decision on assistance to heavily indebted poor countries

It was decided at the Cologne Summit that international debt relief should be provided to the most heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs) under the existing framework for international debt relief (the so-called "HIPCs Initiative"). The debt reduction ratio was increased to 100% in the case of bilateral ODA, and other measures of debt relief were expanded and improved.

*25: Countries for which Japan is the leading ODA donor (1996)

Japan is the leading ODA donor for 17 countries in Asia, five in the Middle East, six in Africa, 14 in Latin America and the Caribbean, and five in the Oceania region.

1. East Asia

*26: South-South Cooperation

Refers to economic cooperation provided by relatively advanced developing economies in the South to other developing countries in the South. For details, see section IV, Methods of Aid 5. Support for South-South Cooperation. Third-country training described in explanatory note 11 is a typical form of support for South-South Cooperation.

2. Southwest Asia

*27: Impoverished population of Southwest Asia

The impoverished population of Southwest Asia exceeds 500 million and is larger than that of sub-Saharan Africa (approximately 220 million). Of the seven Southwest Asian countries, four are recognized as LLDCs.

3. Central Asia and the Caucasus

*28: Silk Road diplomacy

The "Silk Road region" covers five Central Asian countries and three countries of the Caucasus. The "Eurasian diplomatic initiative," announced in 1997 by the then prime Minister Hashimoto, presented Japan's policy of actively seeking to develop closer ties with this region. The principal points of the initiative are as follows: (1) promotion of political dialogue to strengthen mutual confidence and understanding, (2) economic assistance for supporting regional prosperity and assistance for development of resources, and (3) support for promoting peace through nuclear non-proliferation, democratization, and stabilization.

5. Africa

*29: Support for poverty alleviation programs and social development in Africa

At TICAD II, held in October 1998, Japan announced that it would provide grant aid amounting to �90 billion over a five-year period for education, health and medical services, and water supply development.

2. Coordination with Other Official Flows (OOF) and with the Private Sector

*30: Other Official Flows (OOF)

This refers to non-ODA government-funded economic cooperation provided to developing countries. Included in OOF are export financing and loans for direct foreign investment provided to the private sector by the Export-Import Bank of Japan and the Bank of Japan's purchase of bonds issued by the World Bank.

4. Coordination with Other Donor Countries and International Organizations

*31: Sector program

Under this approach, a recipient country takes the initiative in formulating a development plan for a specific sector (such as education, health and medical care). The plan is then discussed by the recipient country and the agencies of donor countries, and necessary adjustments are made.

*32: Japan-US Common Agenda

This refers to common issues identified by Japan and the United States from a global perspective for assisting the development of developing countries. The Common Agenda, launched in July 1993, provides for joint Japan-US action with regard to global-scale problems such as the environment, population, and health and medical services. Currently, various types of projects are being implemented in 18 different fields, which come under the following four major concerns: "promoting health and human development," "responding to challenges to the stability of human society," "protection of the global environment," and "the advance of science and technology." Activities in these fields are reviewed in annual plenary meetings held at the deputy-ministerial level.

5. Support for South-South Cooperation

*33: Support for South-South cooperation

Japan has taken advantage of various opportunities to promote South-South cooperation. For instance, Japan held a meeting for "emerging donors" (developing countries who have made progress in economic development and are simultaneously aid recipients and aid donors) to discuss future directions. This South-South Cooperation Meeting was held in May 1998 in Okinawa. At the 2nd International Conference on African Development (TICAD II) hosted by Japan in October 1998, a decision was made to promote Asian-African cooperation as a concrete form of South-South cooperation. In fiscal 1997, Japan contributed $4 million to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to support South-South cooperation through UNDP.