Official Development Assistance (ODA)
13. Efficient and Effective Implementation of Aid
Tax revenue is the primary source of funding for Japan's ODA programs, but for some years now, Japan has been confronted with fiscal strain. This reality demands that action be taken to make its aid implementation more efficient and effective.
1. A policy shift from the request-oriented approach to collaboration
- It is crucial that development surveys and policy formulation efforts by the donor country be combined with self-reliant ventures by the aid recipient for a collaborative approach.
- Japan has already made ODA country policies for 21 recipient countries. In the years ahead, it will face the task of developing aid programs for those nations.
2. Coordination of aid between donor countries and international organizations
- Global partnerships have been encouraged in the DAC New Development Strategy.
- Japan holds aid policy dialogues with fifteen leading donor countries, including the U.S., France, Germany, and various international organizations (e.g., UNICEF).
- Based on their Common Agenda framework, Japan and the U.S. are pursuing close cooperation on global issues.
3. Assistance to institution building and policy making
- JICA has sent three experts to Poland to assist in the formulation of its industrial policy, including measures for small enterprises.
- In July 1996, Vietnam adopted a new five-year plan that echoes JICA's recommendations concerning development plans, industrial policies, and monetary policies.
4. Coordination among different ODA schemes
- Japan has been working to strengthen coordination between grant aid (e.g., for the construction of hospitals or laboratories) and technical cooperation through JICA (e. g., training programs and dispatch of medical specialists overseas).
5. South-south cooperation
- South-south cooperation is assistance provided by a developing country which has achieved a certain level of development to other developing countries. Japan has been actively supporting these developing countries' move to become new donors.
6. Assistance at the grassroots level
- Cooperation through non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other organizations operating at the local level helps create more human interactions and meet local development needs.
- Japan provides grant assistance for grassroots projects (totaling around 1,000 projects each year) through its embassies and other diplomatic missions as a means of financing for grassroots development activities led by NGOs and local governments.
7. Emergency relief
- Efforts are being made to improve the operation of JICA's Japan Disaster Relief Team, including recent creation and deployment of "international emergency research teams" in the preparatory stage.
- The emphasis of efforts is on assuring a quick response. The Disaster Relief Team stands ready to leave for the stricken area within 24 hours once receiving a request, and the Japan Medical Team for Disaster Relief within 48 hours.
8. Evaluations
- MoFA has been upgrading its efforts for project evaluations, including employment of outside specialists.
- The findings of the evaluations are published annually in the form of Economic Cooperation Evaluation Report. The 1997 report contains evaluations of 167 projects in all.
9. Follow-up systems
- In the event that a recipient country faces difficulties in proper maintenance and use of the completed project, Japan will study the possibility of deployment of survey teams, supply of spare parts, and other needed actions.
10. Future hurdles
- Japan needs to strengthen its programs for technical cooperation including assistance for institution building and policy making.
- Japan needs to take additional steps to enhance and enlarge its country-specific and sector-specific programs.
- Japan's aid administration machinery needs to be strengthened.
- It is essential to ensure, as an institutional mechanism, that ODA is implemented as an instrument of Japanese foreign policy.
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