Chapter 1
The Outcomes of Recent Major International Conferences and Japan’s Measures in Response

Summary
Chapter 1 discusses the major international conferences on development held in 2003, gives an overview of their agendas and outcomes and explains Japan’s measures in response.

With the advance of globalization in recent years new issues in development have emerged. For this reason, development issues are one of the central issues that should be addressed by the international community as a whole.

After the series of development related international conferences held in 2002, a certain direction of the measures for the international community to address development issues has come into existence. Taking into account the tenor of these discussions, in 2003 the international community reaffirmed its commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Monterrey Consensus, etc. and discussed what kind of specific measures should be taken by the international community in order to achieve them. In particular, discussions were held concerning the necessity to materialize the action to accelerate progress toward achieving the MDGs, etc. and the necessity of cooperative action among the concerned countries.

At the G8 Summit held in Evian, France in June 2003, development issues were one of the major items on the agenda as they had been the year before and among them were discussions on sustainable development, Africa’s development issues, etc. Concerning sustainable development, discussions were held in a wide range of fields, such as ways to ensure funding for the achievement of the MDGs, the necessity of good governance in the developing countries, the role of science and technology in achieving the compatibility of growth and environmental protection, the importance of prompt ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, forestry issues. In addition, a variety of G8 action plans, etc. were issued at the summit.

To review the progress of the Monterrey Consensus, the United Nations High Level Dialogue on Financing for Development was held in October 2003, where the Summary of the President of the General Assembly of the High Level Dialogue on Financing for Development was issued. This document noted that (1) the ownership of developing countries was confirmed, while many participants pointed out the lack of financing for development; and (2) 2005 was to be a milestone year featuring a follow-up on the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus and a mid-term review of the MDGs.

Moreover, discussions concerning what measures should be taken in each sector in order to achieve the MDGs have become more vigorous in recent years.

In the education sector, the promotion of “Education for All (EFA)” has become a major trend, and there was a wide-ranging exchange of views concerning “education for girls” at the Third High-Level Group Meeting on Education for All held in November 2003. And the World Bank launched the First Track Initiative (FTI) to achieve the MDG of “universal primary education by 2015” and has specified the target countries that are to receive support.

In the health sector, Japan has been quick to emphasize the importance of infectious diseases in the international community and has provided comprehensive assistance. These efforts led to the establishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. At the Harmonized Action on the Health, Nutrition and Population MDGs Meeting in May 2003, concrete discussions were held on what actions should be taken by the international community in order to achieve the health, nutrition and population-related MDGs.

In the water and sanitation sector, global and comprehensive measures are necessary and the interest of the international community in this sector has rapidly increased in recent years. A large number of people from all around the world, including cabinet ministers, participated in the Third World Water Forum and Ministerial Conference held in Japan in March 2003. At the ministerial conference the “Ministerial Declaration—Message from the Lake Biwa and Yodo River Basin” was adopted in which the leaders expressed the political will to make efforts to mobilize a variety of resources to achieve the goal on safe drinking water and basic sanitation.

ODA Photo Studio 3: The Project for the Preservation and Restoration of the Angkor Monuments through the UNESCO Japanese Trust Fund for the Preservation of World Cultural Heritage (Photo: The Japanese Government Team for Safeguarding Angkor (JSA))

Key Points

• Development issues continued to be major issues in the international community in 2003.
• At the G8 Evian Summit, Japan played a major role in the formulation of action plans concerning water issues and science and technology for sustainable development. And Japan announced support measures for the eradication of polio and the Initiative for Cooperation for Africa.
• Discussions concerning measures in each sector to achieve the MDGs have become more vigorous. Japan has been advocating the importance of ownership by developing countries, good governance, the country-by-country approach, and the utilization of diverse modalities.
  
  

  -	In the education sector, Japan is contributing to EFA and FTI and is actively promoting education development in post-conflict countries (in particular Afghanistan). Japan also proposed the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development and is supporting its promotion.
  -	In the health sector, Japan has pledged financial support of $265 million from 2002 to fiscal year 2004 for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. As the only Asian donor country, Japan serves as a member of the board of directors.
  -	In the water and sanitation sector, the Third World Water Forum and Ministerial Conference were held in Japan.
  -	Japan is the world’s largest provider of assistance to the drinking water and sanitation sector. Japan announced the “Initiative for Japan’s ODA on Water” as a comprehensive policy for contributing to economic assistance in the water sector.

As stated in Part I, with the advance of globalization in recent years, new issues in development have emerged and development issues are one of the central issues that must be addressed by the international community as a whole. Furthermore, in light of the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001 and with the awareness that countries suffering from poverty and without good governance can become hotbeds of terrorism, the interest of the international community in development issues is increasing.

In this context, the international sharing of development goals has been advanced in order to strengthen measures to address development issues in developing countries. The most notable examples are the MDGs, the Monterrey Consensus adopted at the International Conference on Financing for Development in 2002, and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation adopted at the World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD). As a result, a certain direction of the measures emerged for the international community to address development issues. Specifically, comprehensive measures are necessary to address development issues in developing countries. The Monterrey Consensus, the outcome document adopted at the International Conference on Financing for Development, outlined policies for development, including the necessity of ensuring financing for development through every means available, such as domestic financial resources, ODA, investment, trade, debt relief, etc., and the promotion of more efficient assistance and good governance on the recipient country’s side and, together with the November 2001 Doha Ministerial Declaration of the World Trade Organization (WTO), served as a basis for discussions at subsequent international conferences. (Refer to the 2002 ODA White Paper for details.)

Taking into account the direction of international discussions as described above, the development-related international conferences in 2003 reaffirmed their commitment to the MDGs, the WTO Doha Ministerial Declaration, the Monterrey Consensus, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, etc. and discussed issues, such as the specific measures the international community should take to address development issues, and in particular, the necessity for the international community to materialize the action to accelerate progress toward achieving the MDGs, etc. and the necessity of cooperative action among developing countries, developed countries, and international organizations in order to achieve these goals.

Many conferences were also held, mainly on post-conflict reconstruction assistance and responses to development issues by region, particularly in Africa, and at these conferences, vigorous discussions were held concerning specific measures to be taken by the international community through development assistance.

In Part II, Chapter 1 presents an overview of the agendas and outcomes of international conferences held to discuss development in all fields (held in 2003), such as the G8 Evian Summit in June, the UN High Level Dialogue on Financing for Development in October, and the international conferences by sector mainly held to discuss efforts to achieve the MDGs. Then, it introduces the major development-related issues that were repeatedly discussed through these conferences and explains Japan’s response to each issue. Conferences on reconstruction assistance are discussed in Part I (refer for details) and TICAD III is also discussed in Part I (refer for details).

Chapter 2 explains in addition to the above international conferences, the major issues surrounding development including discussions of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development-Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC) and the annual general meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Japan’s views on these issues.

1. G8 Evian Summit (June)

At the G8 Summit held in Evian, France from June 1 to June 3, 2003, following on from the Kananaskis Summit, development issues were prominently featured on the agenda and serious discussions were held concerning sustainable development, Africa’s development issues, etc.

With regard to sustainable development, a wide range of issues were discussed, such as ways to ensure funding for the achievement of the MDGs, the necessity of good governance in the developing countries, the role of science and technology in achieving the compatibility of economic growth and environmental protection, the importance of prompt entry into effect of the Kyoto Protocol, ways of combating against infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, forestry issues, etc. At the end of the summit, a total of 13 action plans, and related documents stating the specific measures that the G8 should take in future were issued with the agreement of the G8 leaders. Action plans related to development that were adopted include those for action against famine, especially in Africa, for water, for health, for science and technology for sustainable development, and for marine environment and tanker safety.

Concerning Africa, an implementation report describing the state of progress of the “G8 Africa Action Plan” adopted at the Kananaskis Summit in 2002 was written by the Africa Personal Representatives to the G8 and submitted to the G8 leaders. Based on this implementation report, a reevaluation of measures by the G8 and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) over the past year was carried out and it was confirmed that the G8 would engage with non-G8 countries and international organizations and continue this kind of exchange (partnership) in the future¹.

Japan, as the host nation of the Third World Water Forum and Ministerial Conference, held prior to the Evian Summit, taking into account the outcome of the water forum and in cooperation with France, played a leading role in the formulation of the action plan concerning water issues. And Japan also played a central role in the formulation of the action plan concerning science and technology for sustainable development along with the US and the United Kingdom (UK). Concerning the health sector, Japan announced a contribution of $80 million over the three year period from 2003 to 2005 for the goal of eradicating polio, as one component of measures against infectious diseases.

Concerning Africa, on the occasion of the visit to Japan of President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal in May 2003, prior to the G8 summit, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced “Japan’s Initiative for Cooperation for Africa”² and in the summit between the two leaders, the prime minister stated that Japan held the TICAD I ten years ago and since then, had employed a variety of initiatives concerning African issues and that he strongly wished for the active attendance of not only the African countries, but also the G8 countries at the TICAD III to be held in fall 2003.

At TICAD III, which was held in response to these developments, in-depth discussions were held concerning African development with the wide-ranging and active participation at a high level, never seen before, of not only the African countries, but also the donor countries and international organizations. Messages were sent to TICAD III by President Jacques Chirac of France and President George W. Bush of the United States. TICAD III was highly praised by all concerned parties. (Details about TICAD III.)

1. As a result, the Africa Partnership Forum comprised of leaders and personal representatives of the G8 and OECD countries, the major NEPAD countries, the UN, etc. was launched in November 2003 and it was decided to hold it twice a year as a political and strategic forum to support NEPAD in the future.
2. Japan’s basic policy for supporting NEPAD is through TICAD; it places importance on human security and its specific measures consist of the three pillars of human-centered development, poverty reduction through economic growth, and the consolidation of peace.

Box 1. Main Points of the Documents Issued by the Evian Summit (Development Session)

1. Action Against Famine Especially in Africa—A G8 Action Plan • The Report of the Commission on Human Security was presented to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York on May 1, 2003 by the co-chairs of the commission, Sadako Ogata and Amartya Sen. • The Final Report advocates comprehensive measures to deal with phenomena arising from both conflicts and development, based on the reality that in today’s globalizing world, there are cases where the state is not sufficiently guaranteeing the security of individuals. Specifically, the report puts the focus on individuals and communities and emphasizes the necessity of the protection and empowerment of individual human beings. Japan contributed by providing $178 million of emergency food assistance worldwide in this period, including $96 million to Sub-Saharan Africa. • In Africa, there are 40 million people at risk of starvation and there is a food shortfall of 1.2 million metric tons. The World Food Program (WFP) has doubled its budget for Africa compared to the previous year. • The total value of emergency food aid to Africa provided over the past year by the G8 countries was included and the determination of the G8 as a group was shown. Japan contributed by providing $178 million of emergency food assistance worldwide in this period, including $96 million to Sub-Saharan Africa. • The emphasis was placed on long-term support for agriculture and food security as a policy to deal with the root causes of hunger. The total disbursements of the G8 in this sector since the previous year were presented. Japan contributed $453 million worldwide in this sector in this period, of that $17 million was to Sub-Saharan Africa. 2. Water—G8 Action Plan • An action plan was formulated, taking into account the outcome of the Third World Water Forum and Ministerial Conference under the leadership of Japan, the world’s largest donor country in the water sector and the host nation for the forum and ministerial conference, and G8 president France. • The Action Plan begins by stating that “Lack of water can undermine human security.” • Promotion of good governance: the G8 is committed to assisting, as a priority, countries that make a commitment to prioritize safe drinking water and basic sanitation as part of their national strategy. • Utilizing all financial resources: utilization of not only ODA but also the domestic financial resources of the developing country and investment from developed countries. 3. Health—A G8 Action Plan • The Action Plan states that the G8 countries will work together and in close cooperation with non-G8 countries and the World Health Organization (WHO) in order to defeat Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). • The G8 countries pledged an additional contribution for the goal of eradicating polio from the entire world by 2005. Japan, along with the US and the UK, is a major contributor to measures to eradicate polio. Japan has already declared its intention to provide cooperation of $80 million for this goal over the three year period from 2003 to 2005. • An international donors’ and supporters’ conference for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria shall be held in July 2003. 4. Science and Technology for Sustainable Development—G8 Action Plan • This action plan is based on Japan’s belief that utilizing science and technology is the key to making economic growth and environmental protection compatible. Japan, the US, and the UK took the lead in formulating it. • In particular, global observation (usage of satellites, etc. to observe changes of the environment on earth, including climate changes) was Japan’s initiative. The action plan mentions the need for coordination of the global observation efforts being carried out by the countries around the world, international organizations, etc. The action plan is that the G8 will formulate an implementation plan for the development of a world-wide observation system by next spring’s Tokyo ministerial conference. • Japan also took lead in establishing the goal of removing obstacles to making fuel cell vehicles price competitive within two decades. 5. Marine Environment and Tanker Safety—A G8 Action Plan • In light of the sinking of the oil tanker “Prestige” off the coast of Spain in November 2002 and the resulting oil spill and pollution of the ocean, this action plan calls for acceleration of the phasing out of single hulled tankers and other measures. (A provisional translation of the action plans in their entirety is on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) site at: http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/gaiko/summit/evian_paris03/index.html)

2. UN High Level Dialogue on Financing for Development (October)

The UN High Level Dialogue on Financing for Development was held in October 2003 mainly to review at the ministerial level, the progress of implementation of the commitments contained in the Monterrey Consensus. Ministers of foreign affairs, finance, trade, development, etc. attended the dialogue and a deputy minister of foreign affairs attended from Japan.

This high-level dialogue has its origins in the holding of a high-level dialogue on the theme of “the social and economic impact of globalization and interdependence and their policy implications” held at the 53^rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in 1998. In response to the holding of this dialogue, it was decided in the UN General Assembly of that year to hold the high-level dialogue once every two years. After some adjustments were made, the second high-level dialogue was held during the 56^th session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2001. Subsequently agreement was reached in the Monterrey Consensus—the document produced by the International Conference on Financing for Development held in Monterrey, Mexico in March 2002—to strengthen the high-level dialogue and to utilize the dialogue more as a follow-up to the conference. The October 2003 meeting is the first holding of the conference since its significance was once again strengthened as a “high-level dialogue on financing for development.”

At this meeting, the “Summary by the President of the General Assembly of the High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development” was issued under the authority of the president of the United Nations General Assembly (November 6, UN Document A/58/555). The outline of that document is as follows.

In addition, the summary document summarized and analyzed the discussions in this dialogue under the themes of “Mobilizing domestic resources,” “Private capital flows,” “International trade,” “ODA and other resources,” “External debt,” “Systemic and institutional issues,” and “Staying engaged.”

In this dialogue, Japan pointed out the importance of coordinating and ensuring the coherence of polices of donor countries, recipient countries, and aid implementing agencies, in particular the UN, talked about the importance of growth through the virtuous cycle of coordination between assistance, infrastructure development, private capital, trade, etc. in the developing countries, mentioned IDEA, and presented the development experience of East Asia.

3. International Conferences for Each Sector and Measures Taken

The MDGs consists of goals in the sectors such as education, health (especially infectious diseases), and environment. (Refer to Chart 2 in this part.) Based on a shared awareness of the importance of efforts to achieve the MDGs by the international community in the development sector, there have been more vigorous discussions concerning what measures should be taken in each sector in order to achieve the MDGs. The following explains the international conferences and measures taken in the major sectors.

(1) Education

A. Education For All (EFA) ^*1
The promotion of Education for All (EFA) has become a major part of education cooperation in the international community. It has become much more important to promote not only bilateral assistance; but also collaboration with international organizations providing education-related assistance such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank. UNESCO is the leading agency for the promotion of EFA and under the leadership of Director General Koichiro Matsuura, it holds a high-level group meeting annually, aiming to confirm the present status of developing countries and issues faced in achieving EFA and to maintain the political momentum of EFA promotion.

The Third High-Level Group Meeting on EFA was held in November 2003 in New Delhi, India, where a wide-ranging exchange of views was held on “education for girls.” Concerning “education for girls,” EFA requires that gender disparities in primary and secondary education be eliminated by 2005, and that gender equality in education be achieved by 2015. According to the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2003/4^*2 published by UNESCO, the average net enrollment ratio³ for boys in primary education in developing countries is 85.1% and for girls is 78.9% giving a gender parity index (GPI)⁴ of 0.93—an improvement of 0.07 points compared with the data for 1990. However, there are still approximately 57 million out-of-school girls in developing countries, accounting for approximately 60% of all out-of-school children. The net enrollment ratio for girls is particularly low in sub-Saharan Africa where there are approximately 23 million out-of-school girls.

Provision of school supplies through UNICEF (Iraq)

At this meeting, the various factors hindering the enrollment of girls in school were analyzed, it was reaffirmed that “education for girls” would not only contribute to the universal primary education and the improvement of quality of education, but would also contribute to poverty reduction through the empowerment of women, and it was confirmed that support for achieving the goals of 2005 would be further strengthened.

Japan has been participating in the high-level group meeting as an official member since the second meeting held in Nigeria in 2002. In the third meeting, Japan, based on its own experiences⁵, pointed out the following as important points for the promotion of education for girls: (1) expansion of the national and local government budgets for promotion of education for girls; (2) development of a suitable environment for education for girls in local communities, such as constructing school buildings and ensuring the safety of roads to school; (3) training female teachers; and (4) introduction of subjects useful in everyday life such as home economics and of post-graduation career counseling and job-finding mediation.

B. The Fast Track Initiative (FTI) ^*3
The World Bank launched the Fast Track Initiative (FTI) in April 2002 with the goal of achieving “universal primary education by 2015,” one of the MDGs. The FTI has been positioned as the first initiative realizing the Monterrey Consensus (donor countries will commit to assistance in proportion to the performances of developing countries) of March 2002.

At the second FTI Partnership Meeting held in Paris in March 2003, the FTI Framework Document, which organized the process of support through the FTI, was agreed upon, discussions were held concerning assistance for the seven countries then eligible for FTI assistance—Burkina Faso, Guinea, Guyana, Honduras, Mauritania, Nicaragua, and Niger—and assistance of approximately $196.3 million was announced. Japan announced support of $15.2 million for Guinea, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Additionally, Yemen, Mozambique and Gambia were accepted as new FTI countries bringing the total to ten countries.

The third FTI Partnership Meeting was held in Oslo in November 2003. The meeting reviewed the experiences of the FTI over the 16 months since its launch, organized future issues, and discussed the expansion of support to include other low-income countries, strengthening of collaboration with UNESCO and further clarification of the FTI process and other related topics. Regarding support for the FTI, since the focus was on the funding gap between the necessary funds and the support pledged by donor countries, various levels of support for the FTI approach could be seen among donor countries.

Japan has pointed out the following points at donors’ meetings: (1) the FTI places the focus only on “universal primary education” while EFA sets the six goals such as primary and secondary education, and continuing education for adult literacy, and thus there is room for improvement to the approach; (2) the FTI is not sufficiently linked to the education support already being carried out at the local level based on the PRSPs; and (3) the discussion is focused on the provision of funding and it is doubtful whether the capacity of recipient countries to absorb assistance has been sufficiently taken into account.

C. UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
At the WSSD in 2002, Japan advocated the “United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development” (hereafter to be referred to as the “Decade of Education”) in response to a proposal from non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The agreement of governments and concerned international organizations attending the WSSD was obtained and as a result, a provision to recommend the adoption of the “Decade of Education” to the UN General Assembly was incorporated in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. The “Decade of Education” is to be the ten year period from 2005 to 2014 and its goal is for both developed and developing countries to promote education which contributes to sustainable development. In response, as the country which advocated the “Decade of Education,” Japan submitted a draft resolution to the UN General Assembly both in 2002 and 2003. There Japan obtained over 40 co-sponsors and the proposal was unanimously adopted.

UNESCO, as the lead agency for the promotion of the “Decade of Education,” is planning to announce the International Implementation Scheme, which will be the guideline for this initiative in June 2004. Japan has decided to provide $100,000 to UNESCO to support the development of the International Implementation Scheme. (Details about Japan’s aid disbursements in the education sector (fiscal year 2002).)

(2) Health

A. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund)
Japan, ahead of the other donor countries, brought up the importance of infectious diseases at the Kyushu Okinawa G8 Summit in 2000, announced the Okinawa Infectious Diseases Initiative (IDI), and has taken comprehensive measures through bilateral and multilateral assistance.

These developments led to the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, the G8 Genoa Summit in 2001 and the launching of the Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) in January 2002. In this way, international interest in combating infectious diseases is increasing and the action plan adopted at the G8 Evian Summit in 2003 reaffirmed support for the Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (hereafter to be referred to as the “Global Fund”) and called for increased support for the Global Fund.

The Global Fund is expected to play a central role in the fight against infectious diseases at the global level. By the sixth board meeting in October 2003, the Global Fund had approved a total of 228 projects in 121 countries over three rounds, with a total value of approximately $2.05 billion.

Japan, as the country which played a major role in establishing the Global Fund, has pledged financial support of $265 million to the fund for the period from 2002 to fiscal year 2004 (as of December 2003) and is a member of the Global Fund’s Board, which is the fund’s highest decision-making body.

As the only Asian donor country in the Global Fund and at the board meeting, Japan is also an advocate of the necessity of strict fund management for stable and sustained management of the Global Fund. Japan strives to achieve the balance in support between regions, balance between the three major infectious diseases, and the balance between prevention, treatment, and care so that support does not become overly focused on a specific region or disease. A broad-spectrum approach rooted in the knowledge and awareness of the people of each country is necessary for measures to combat infectious diseases. It is important for not only governments, but also the private sector to contribute to the Global Fund through donation and other methods and to build a close partnership to combat infectious diseases.

B. Harmonized Action on the Health, Nutrition and Population MDGs Meeting
The “Harmonized Action on the Health, Nutrition and Population MDGs Meeting” was held in Ottawa in May 2003, co-sponsored by the World Bank, Canada, and the UK. This forum was held to discuss in concrete terms what measures the international community should take to realize the MDGs related to health, nutrition, and population. High level representatives from donor countries, international organizations, and developing countries attended this forum.

Japan argued that a framework should be formulated for concerted action based on the following four points: (1) that more importance be given to the ownership and leadership of the governments of developing countries themselves; (2) that action be based on a country-by-country approach, because the building of health care systems and health administration reform, etc. is necessary; (3) that it is important to promote a region-by-region approach and South-South cooperation because infectious diseases is a problem which crosses national borders, making region-wide responses necessary; and (4) that the utilization of diverse modalities tailored to the actual conditions in each country and region is important.

The other participants made statements calling for increased funding support and indicating the importance of the role of the private sector and the role of research and development in the health care sector, and highlighting the issue of disparities between and within developing countries, etc.

As a follow-up to this meeting, the High-level Forum on the Health MDGs was held in Geneva in January 2004 to review progress toward the achievement of the MDGs in the health sector and discuss policies to promote future actions as preparation for the 2005 review of the MDGs. Japan emphasized the importance of improving the capacity of the recipient countries in order to effectively utilize assistance funds, in particular, the importance of promoting human resources development in the health sector based on a long-term plan of at least ten years’ duration. The forum is expected to continue until 2005. Japan, which places importance on assistance for the health sector because it is directly related to poverty reduction, intends to enhance the coordination with the international community by maintaining its active participation in this forum.

(3) Water and Sanitation—the Third World Water Forum and Ministerial Conference

The interest of the international community in the water and sanitation sectors has rapidly increased in recent years. Behind the trend is the factor that the water and sanitation sectors are essential for the health and welfare of human beings and because of complex issues in this sector, comprehensive measures at the global level are necessary.

At the 2002 WSSD, in addition to the MDG of “safe drinking water,” a goal in the sanitation sector to “halve the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation by 2015” was newly incorporated into the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.

In this context, international cooperation in the water and sanitation sector appeared as a major item on the agenda in the series of international conferences held in 2003. In the G8 Evian Summit held in June 2003, Japan and France took the lead in developing the “G8 Action Plan on Water,” as was previously noted (Refer for details).

The following outlines the Third World Water Forum and Ministerial Conference, Japan hosted and held in Kyoto, Osaka and Shiga in March 2003.

The Third World Water Forum and Ministerial Conference

More than 24,000 people from 183 countries and regions participated in the Third World Water Forum. At the forum, the Government of Japan hosted the “Dialogue between Forum Participants and Ministers” jointly with the National Steering Committee of the Third World Water Forum, and from the preparatory stage to the duration of the forum, held dialogues with a large number of NGOs every day, primarily through the Ambassador of Civil Society.

Approximately 1,300 people from 170 countries and regions as well as 47 international organizations, including approximately 130 ministerial-level participants, attended the Ministerial Conference hosted by the Government of Japan. At the conference, the “Ministerial Declaration—Message from the Lake Biwa and Yodo River Basin” was adopted. The Ministerial Declaration expresses a strong political will to make efforts to mobilize a variety of resources, both public and private, to realize goals concerning safe drinking water and basic sanitation facilities. Japan strongly advocated strengthening of household and neighborhood community-based approaches; in other words, the enhancement of governance from the grassroots level. As a result, these points were incorporated into the Ministerial Declaration. In addition, the Ministerial Declaration, in response to the themes of the five subcommittees, declared that efforts would be made to tackle the following issues: (1) Water Resources Management and Benefit Sharing; (2) Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation; (3) Water for Food and Rural Development; (4) Water Pollution Prevention and Ecosystem Conservation; and (5) Disaster Mitigation and Risk Management. For example, regarding the environment, education for water pollution prevention, use of water in a manner that sustains ecosystems, appropriate legislative frameworks, the promotion of greening and sustainable forest management, etc. were incorporated into the Ministerial Declaration based on statements by Japan.

In addition, from an action-orientated perspective, the Ministerial Declaration agreed to establish a new network of websites as a follow-up mechanism for the steady implementation of the “Portfolio of Water Actions (PWA)” which summarized the voluntary measures taken for countries and international organizations to resolve global water issues. The Government of Japan will take the responsibility of managing the network until it is fully established and has already begun the operation⁶.

On the occasion of the Third World Water Forum, the “World Panel on Financing Global Water Infrastructure,” presided by Michel Camdessus, former managing director of the IMF and led by the Global Water Partnership, the World Water Council, and the National Steering Committee of the Third World Water Forum, compiled and published a report. This report states that in order to achieve the MDGs, it is necessary to double the flow of funding to water infrastructure every year and that it is necessary to procure the additional funds from all sources of finance, and then recommends that financing from donor countries and international financial organizations to local authorities be made possible, that local capital markets be promoted to enable private-sector water providers to procure capital at the local level without being exposed to exchange risk, and that appropriate water tariff structures be ensured to make sustainable cost recovery possible.

A young girl using a well that has been established (Zambia)

Taking these proposals into account, the World Bank has been discussing combining new systems and existing financing and security systems to maximize infrastructure investment through all sources of finance, financing for local authorities, reducing foreign exchange rate risk, etc. The content of these issues and actions is included in the “Infrastructure Action Plan” published in September 2003. (Details about the “Infrastructure Action Plan.”)

Japan has been the largest donor country in the world for the drinking water and sanitation sector. At the Third World Water Forum and Ministerial Conference, Japan played the role described above as the host country, and based on this fact that Japan is actively cooperating internationally in the water sector, Japan announced the “Initiative for Japan’s ODA on Water” as a policy for comprehensive contribution by Japan to economic cooperation in the water sector at the Ministerial Conference. Concerning promotion of the US-Japan initiative, “Clean Water for People Initiative”⁷, Japan jointly with the US made an announcement on the regions and sectors which receive cooperation. In addition, Japan made a new agreement with France to advance the “Japan-France Water Sector Cooperation” and this was announced.

(Details about the above initiatives and Japan’s aid disbursements in the water sector (for fiscal year 2002)).

3. The net enrollment ratio is the number of pupils in the official age group for a given level of education enrolled at that level expressed as a percentage of the total population in that age group.
4. The GPI is the net enrollment ratio for girls divided by the net enrollment ratio for boys.
5. The net enrollment rate for girls in 1886 was 42% but it had reached 100% by 1910.
6. For details refer to http://www.pwa-web.org.
7. An initiative jointly announced by Japan and the US at the WSSD in 2002.