The post-cold war international community has witnessed a proliferation of regional conflicts driven by ethnic and religious animosities, notably in the Middle East, Africa, and the former Yugoslavia. The hostilities have triggered an array of serious problems, including the displacement or expulsion of large numbers of refugees. Such conflicts also present a serious bottleneck to development in that they typically cause the waste of precious capital and energy resources that otherwise could have helped promote economic development and improve people's quality of life.

Of course, it is of paramount importance that disputes be prevented before they develop into regional hot wars. Disputes can have many causes, but often enough they can be traced to poverty and other economic factors that transcend traditional ethnic or religious animosities. On that understanding, ODA should be able to play a role of some kind in the search for ways of preventing such conflicts.

Assistance on several fronts will be essential after a conflict has already broken out: e.g., to set the stage for a peaceful political settlement, provide humanitarian aid aimed at resettling displaced refugees, conduct peacekeeping operations (PKO) aimed at ensuring that all parties live up to their obligations under the peace accord, and supply various forms of assistance designed to aid the task of recovery and reconstruction. Though the settlement of its civil war has left Bosnia-Herzegovina confronted by the formidable task of reconstruction and nation- building, ODA has a major role to play in those undertakings.

Antipersonnel landmines constitute one of the unique problems that remain long after a conflict has been brought to an end. Antipersonnel mines still cause indiscriminate harm and suffering in Cambodia, Angola, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. By some estimates, as many as 2,000 civilians worldwide are maimed or killed by land mines every month. Needless to say, from a humanitarian standpoint, this is an extremely serious problem, not to mention a major bottleneck on their efforts to rebuild and pursue development. Against this backdrop, 1997 witnessed a series of major breakthroughs, including the September adoption of the Anti-Personnel Landmines Ban Treaty, followed by a signing ceremony that December. To help promote that international drive, in March 1997 Japan hosted the Tokyo Conference on Anti-person- nel Landmines. That forum issued the "Tokyo Guidelines" for international cooperation on the problem, setting the ultimate objective of "zero victims." In November 1997, Japan announced that it was prepared to spend around 10 billion yen in ODA over the ensuing five years to help put the guidelines into effect. In the years ahead, it intends to actively assist in the provision of equipment related to landmine clearance operations, the establishment of facilities and provision of equipment for rehabilitation programs and the manufacture of artificial limbs, and provide support for the activities of UN sections striving to address landmine-related issues. Japan will also continue working closely with NGOs to address this problem.

Japan played a major role in finding a political settlement to the civil war in Cambodia, and displayed its leadership by sponsoring international forums and assistance-related conferences on the issues of Cambodian reconstruction and development. When the country's two leading political parties violently clashed in July 1997, Japan used its skills in persuasion to bring conditions back to normal and set the stage for free and fair elections. When the elections were held in July 1998, Japan sent observers and provided financing for election equipment and other preparations as well as the activities of UN election monitoring teams.

The conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina was considered to be a problem with implications for the international order at large, and a problem from a humanitarian standpoint. Japan has been strongly interested in improving the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and has provided aid and election-related assistance of a scale surpassed only by the EU and U.S.

In the Middle East, Japan has taken every opportunity to encourage all parties involved to move forward with the peace process. In addition, to foster improved social stability and help create a political climate conducive to a lasting peace, it has employed various forms of ODA-based economic aid, including assistance designed to help the Palestinian Interim Self-government Authority strengthen its administrative base and improve living conditions for the public, and indirect assistance aimed at bringing Jordan more actively into the peace process.

Then-Foreign Minister Obuchi signing the global ban treaty on anti-personnel landmines (Dec. 1997)