| Part II. | INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE TRENDS WITH RESPECT TO DEVELOPMENT ISSUES |
As stated in Part I (refer for details),
in order to implement efficient and effective development with limited resources
for assistance, in the international community there have been movements to
review aid modalities based on experience to date and also increased cooperation
between donor countries and assistance organizations.
Previously there had been consultations, coordination, etc. among donor countries
and international organizations for individual issues and at the project level.
Recently, in order to improve the ownership of recipient countries, shifting
from the former focus at the project level, coordination and collaboration have
been made at the sector strategy level or the national development strategy
level. Coordination has increased, including the issue of reviewing aid modalities,
such as budget support, Sector Wide Approaches (SWAps), and harmonization of
procedures.
Here, after first explaining the present status of assistance coordination between
Japan, other donor countries, and international organizations, there is an explanation
about the discussion in the international community on promoting effectiveness
of aid and Japan’s statements on this issue.
As stated in Part I (refer for
details), in order to implement ODA more strategically, effectively and
efficiently Japan is exchanging opinions and coordinating policies through bilateral
aid policy consultation at bureau-chief level with major donor countries. Please
refer to that section for an outline of collaboration between Japan and international
organizations.
The following explains the current status of Japan’s dialogue and collaboration
with the World Bank, UNDP, and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)—organizations
with which Japan has built an especially wide-ranging relationship.
A. World Bank
The World Bank is the largest provider of assistance for the development of
developing countries and is also communicating diverse messages in the policy
field and playing a leading role in aid coordination among donor countries and
international organizations. Recently it has been deeply involved in discussions
in a series of development related conferences, such as the Annual Meetings
of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and in the meetings of
the World Bank/IMF Joint Development Committee where major themes of international
conferences were taken up. In the 2003 World Bank/IMF Joint Development Committee,
following on from the 2002 meeting, the state of progress of measures to achieve
the MDGs was discussed. The World Bank is promoting the Fast Track Initiative
(FTI) in the education sector and in the health sector it has held the Harmonized
Action on the Health, Nutrition and Population MDGs together with donor countries.
In this context, as the second biggest financial contributor to the World Bank,
Japan places importance on building a cooperative relationship with the bank
and is working to strengthen the relationship in a variety of ways. Japan is
working with the World Bank at international conferences, such as consultative
group meetings for developing countries, the International Conference on Reconstruction
Assistance to Afghanistan, and the International Donors’ Conference on
Reconstruction in Iraq, etc. Japan also organized two international conferences
in Japan in cooperation with the World Bank in 2003: the Third World Water Forum
in March and the Third Tokyo International Conference on African Development
(TICAD III) in September.
Japan has been holding high-level policy dialogue with the World Bank headquarters
on a regular basis. In January 2003, World Bank President James Wolfensohn visited
Japan and exchanged views with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, then Finance
Minister Masajuro Shiokawa, and then Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs
Toshimitsu Motegi regarding the ODA budget, improvements in aid effectiveness,
and assistance in the education sector. And recently working level dialogues
have been held among multilateral development banks (MDBs), primarily the World
Bank, and Japan’s assistance-related organizations (MOFA, the Ministry
of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan International Cooperation Agency
(JICA), JBIC, etc.) concerning the best approach to assistance for specific
countries and regions.
In the field, the staff of Japanese embassies, JICA and JBIC participate as
actively as possible in the formulation of PRSPs in order to realize poverty
reduction in developing countries. In March 2002, the Poverty Reduction Strategy
Trust Fund (PRSTF) was established within the World Bank with contributions
from Japan and other countries. The fund is used to provide capacity building
assistance to countries eligible for IDA credits in the development of PRSPs
and in building the capacity of governments and to NGOs for their implementation.
Japan and the World Bank place great importance on utilizing the information
technology (IT) sector when promoting development. In order to promote the use
of IT in development, work is currently in progress to link the Global Development
Learning Network (GDLN), a long-distance education network of the World Bank,
with Japan’s remote technical assistance network (JICA-NET).
B. UNDP
The UNDP is the leading UN agency responsible for all development issues and
in general has the largest worldwide network within the UN system. It publishes
the Human Development Report annually and has a major influence on the formation
of international trends in aid. The UNDP also functions as the international
community’s driving force toward the achievement of the MDGs.
In recent years Japan has strengthened its partnership with the UNDP at both
the policy and project levels. Since 2001 there have been annual policy-level
consultations, and in 2003 in addition to high-level consultations held with
UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown, policy dialogue was expanded through
the occasion of his visit to Japan and at other opportunities. On a project
level, as in reconstruction assistance to Afghanistan and Iraq, Japan has been
implementing assistance in close coordination with the UNDP.
Japan has implemented a number of joint projects (known as “multi-bi cooperation”)
with the UNDP. Specifically, there is the Project for Improvement of Garbage
Collection and Disposal in Rawalpindi City, Pakistan, resettlement assistance
for repatriated Cambodian refugees, and assistance for girls’ education
in Guatemala.
Since the First Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD
I) in 1993, Japan has strengthened its cooperation with the UNDP in Africa’s
development. Japan has actively utilized funds contributed to the UNDP for various
follow-up projects under the Tokyo Agenda for Action, adopted at the Second
Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD II).
Like Japan, the UNDP is strengthening its assistance for post-conflict reconstruction
and development and for peace building, and collaboration in these areas is
also deepening. For example, regarding support for Palestine in 1988 Japan created
the Japan-Palestine Development Fund within the UNDP, which has been used to
support infrastructure development, such as the construction of schools and
hospitals in the West Bank of the Jordan River and Gaza Strip and to enhance
the administrative capacity of the Palestinian Authority. In Afghanistan, UNDP
is implementing the Recovery and Employment Afghanistan Program (REAP) with
an aim to create employment for returning refugees and internally displaced
persons. In Kosovo, the UNDP supports democratization and assists in rebuilding
homes and constructing schools and hospitals. Assistance in Timor-Leste has
focused on the development of infrastructure in such areas as roads, ports,
power generation, and irrigation. In Iraq, the UNDP is also providing support
for the reconstruction of the basic foundations of daily life, such as dredging
harbor and restoring electricity supply and hospitals, primarily through the
Iraq Reconstruction and Employment Programme (IREP), which is similar to the
REAP in Afghanistan.
To encourage South-South cooperation, to which Japan attaches great importance,
the UNDP works with other aid organizations and UN agencies in promoting technology
transfers and network building. Japan supports these activities through its
contributions to funds established within the UNDP.
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| A project jointly carried out by Japan and the UNDP: Harusa Power Station, Iraq (Photo: UNDP Liaison Office in Tokyo) |
| Column 3 | UNDP and Japan’s Cooperation—Seamless Reconstruction Assistance: Recovery and Employment Afghanistan Program (REAP) | ||||
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Currently, the international community has strongly been
calling for importance of the smooth implementation of “seamless”
transition from immediate post-conflict emergency humanitarian assistance
to reconstruction and development assistance.
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| Column 4 | Assistance for the Eradication of Polio in Ethiopia | ||
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In Ethiopia, Japan is providing assistance for the eradication
of polio through coordination of grant aid and technical cooperation
and has achieved great success.
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C. UNICEF
UNICEF, as an UN agency, operates development projects on a global scale in
health, medical care, education, etc. for children and women and also plays
a leading role in protecting and promoting the rights of the children as well
as in humanitarian activities. Japan places a high value on cooperation with
UNICEF because of its specialized knowledge and outstanding on-site expertise
and has been conducting policy consultations since 1989. Moreover, Japan has
been promoting wide-ranging cooperation in development sectors in the health
and medical care, education, and water and sanitation sectors and also in recent
years, in the humanitarian and reconstruction assistance sector and human rights
sector.
In the development sector concerning health and medical care, Japan is cooperating
with UNICEF within the framework of technical cooperation (“Infectious
Disease Control Equipment Supply Program (assistance for the eradication of
polio and the Expanded Programme of Immunization (EPI))”) and grant aid
(“Maternal and Child Health Equipment Supply Program”). Specifically,
they are providing complementary assistance in which Japan provides various
health and medical care equipment and vaccinations, etc. to recipient countries
(if the country in question has an insufficient capacity for implementing the
project, to UNICEF instead), while UNICEF provides guidance concerning budget
measures, human resources development, etc. to the government of the recipient
country (usually the health ministry). Japan’s contribution in the health
sector is regarded highly by the governments and people of the recipient countries
and by UNICEF.
In the education sector, Japan with the cooperation of UNICEF, is providing
grant aid (a total of ¥252 million) to the Intensive District Approach to
Education for All (IDEAL) project in Bangladesh for the purchase of school study
materials, the manuals for various trainings including teacher training, etc.
Furthermore, at TICAD III, held in September 2003, the strengthening of Japan-UNICEF
cooperation in Africa in the areas of the eradication of malaria and education
for girls, etc. was reaffirmed.
In the humanitarian and reconstruction assistance sector, Japan is providing
a lot of assistance with UNICEF in Afghanistan, Iraq, etc. Since July 2002,
within the framework of the Regional Comprehensive Development Assistance Programme
in Afghanistan (known as the “Ogata Initiative”), Japan has provided
reconstruction assistance on three occasions (a total of $40 million, school
reconstruction, well construction, provision of nutritional supplements to malnourished
children, etc.) in the education and health and medical care sectors. Furthermore,
in order to save the children of Iraq, who are suffering terribly, Japan has
provided assistance through UNICEF on a number of occasions since before the
commencement of military action (a total of about $16 million, provision of
drinking water to the people of Basra who are facing serious water shortages
due to the destruction of water filtering plants, the reconstruction of primary
schools, the provision of study materials, etc.)
Moreover, in recent years Japan has carried out active international cooperation
with UNICEF in the human rights sector. In February 2003, Japan and UNICEF jointly
held a symposium to discuss the increasingly serious issue of trafficking of
children in the Southeast Asian countries. On that occasion, Japan donated $450,000
so that the UNICEF Myanmar Country Office could implement the projects in this
sector. And in August 2003, Japan, the Government of Sudan, and UNICEF jointly
held a symposium for the eradication of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Khartoum.
FGM is a traditional custom which damages the health of girls and infringes
upon their rights and it remains firmly entrenched in some African countries.
The symposium deepened the understanding of the Government of Sudan, local concerned
organizations, NGOs, and citizens and aroused the strong political will to eradicate
this problem. This project was revolutionary since it was the first project
by the Government of Japan to cooperate with the government of a developing
country to improve concrete human rights situation. Japan has donated $450,000
to cover the cost of holding the symposium and implementing projects to eradicate
FGM. Japan hopes that this initiative will not be restricted to Sudan but spread
to the neighboring countries which practice FGM, and will have good effects
such as spreading the movement toward eradication of FGM.
Japan’s cooperation with UNICEF is thus seen in various areas ranging from
development, humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to human rights. Reflecting
this wide-ranging cooperation, in fiscal year 2002 the Government of Japan’s
total contributions, including voluntary contributions to the UNICEF head office,
reached a new high of $118.06 million (second in the world). Japan intends to
continue to actively promote cooperation in all sectors as a strong partner
of UNICEF.
As was explained before (refer
for details), PRSPs are the efforts that began from the awareness that,
based on criticisms of the structural adjustment programs, developing countries
should have ownership and formulate strategies for realizing poverty reduction.
In the international community, there is an increasing awareness that it is
necessary to comprehensively provide support for PRSPs as a whole, and not individual
issues, while taking into account the capacity of the government of the recipient
country. Wide agreement has already been reached concerning the necessity of
considering the PRSPs to be a development strategy shared by the recipient country,
the donor countries and international organizations, and the need for the people
involved to cooperate to efficiently implement them while maintaining respect
for the systems of the recipient country. Vigorous discussions are currently
being held concerning the specific form of that cooperation.
Below is an explanation of issues mainly regarding modalities, harmonization
of procedures, and measures taken by Japan.
| Column 5 | Assistance for the Formulation of an Agricultural Sector Development Programme (ASDP) in Tanzania | |
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The PRSP is the document describing the comprehensive
development strategy of a developing country and it contains the issues
that the developing country must tackle. However, although the issues
and their medium-term direction are written in the PRSP, in order to
actually tackle issues sector by sector, for example, in education or
in health, it is necessary to analyze the situation in each sector and
to then formulate sector programs, which are more detailed action plans. Note: United Republic of Tanzania, Agricultural Sector Development Programme
Framework and Process Document (Final Draft), March 2003
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A. Modalities
In low-income countries with extremely limited revenue and limited financial
and administrative management capacity, the goal of the government of the recipient
country having ownership and implementing the development strategies—PRSPs
and sector programs—shared by assistance related organizations, including
assistance providers such as donor countries and international organizations,
has led to the emergence of assistance approaches, such as budget support, in
which the donor country or international organization directly injects assistance
funds into the government coffers of the recipient country, and the Common Fund,
which pools financing into a special fund.
In order to appropriately implement the PRSP at each sector level, it is important
to increase the public financial management, program formulation, etc. capacity
of the recipient country and to implement assistance in conformity with the
systems of the recipient country. For this reason, statements have been made
to the effect that it is important for the recipient country to improve the
outlook for development assistance (increase the predictability of assistance
funds) and for the government of the recipient country to understand the content
of the assistance from the donor countries and international organizations,
and then include the assistance of donor countries and international organizations
in the government budget of the developing country (on budget) so that it can
be appropriately positioned in the overall development plan.
The UK, the Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries, etc. think in this way
and are strongly stating the concept that the assistance approach should move
in the direction of budget support. And these assistance approaches are gradually
beginning to be implemented by a large number of donor countries and international
organizations.
On the other hand, although the US, France, Germany, Canada, etc. basically
agree that budget support in low-income countries and improvements to the public
financial management capacity of recipient countries are necessary and furthermore,
that it is necessary to comprehensively support the development plan, they do
not think modalities are across-the-board and are adopting the position that
it is important to appropriately combine diverse forms of assistance tailored
to the situation in each developing country. They take this position due to
their belief that the priority issues faced by recipient countries, their level
of public financial management capacity, and the situation surrounding each
developing country are diverse and that in some cases new modalities such as
budget support and the Common Fund are effective and in other cases, the former
project-based approach is effective. Japan also believes that including assistance
funds in the budget of the developing country is important from the perspective
of improving public financial management.
Looking at actual examples, the US, France, Germany, Canada, etc. are also implementing
budget support, which provides funds directly as revenue of the government of
the recipient country, as a part of their assistance. Also, in the UK, the Netherlands,
and the Scandinavian countries, budget support still only occupies a part of
their assistance. And Japan has been implementing program assistance which has
a budget support effect and uses non-project grant aid, etc.
So no consensus has yet been reached in the international community concerning
new modalities. Currently a variety of studies are being conducted and discussions
are taking place concerning the effectiveness of each modality. However there
is a shared awareness that it is important for the people involved in assistance,
including donor countries and international organizations, to respect the ownership
of the government of the recipient country and move forward together to effectively
implement a shared development plan. Japan intends to actively participate in
and contribute to this discussion about modalities in order to establish what
form more effective and efficient assistance should take.
B. Harmonization of Procedures
There is increasing criticism that because each donor country and organization
has been implementing assistance using different procedures and methods, an
excessive procedural burden has been imposed on the recipient countries (particularly
the LDCs).
Since 2001 studies have been under way on harmonization of procedures among
the group of major bilateral donor countries in OECD-DAC and among the group
of MDBs led by the World Bank. In February 2003, as a culmination of these studies,
the “High-Level Forum on Harmonization22”
was held in Rome, Italy and the Rome Declaration on Harmonization, which stated
the direction of future specific harmonization measures, was adopted. The meeting
brought together many high-level participants including the heads of the World
Bank and other MDBs, development-related international organizations such as
OECD-DAC, UNDP, etc., and heads of state and ministers, etc. from major developing
countries. The meeting was important because of the widely shared awareness
that it was important to steadily promote harmonization as a part of policies
to improve the effectiveness of development.
In the Rome Declaration on Harmonization, the importance of implementing assistance
based on the priorities in the development plan formulated by the recipient
country itself was emphasized, and it was decided that the donor countries would
reduce survey teams, simplify documentation such as various reports, etc., and
so on, while understanding these development plans formulated by each country
to be central. And it was agreed to monitor these measures until 2005.
C. Specific Measures Taken by Japan
(a) Cooperation at the Sector Strategy Level and the National Development Strategy
Level
Japan, as already explained (refer for details)
is placing importance on respecting the ownership of the government of the recipient
country and cooperating with the international community to effectively implement
a shared development plan and at the same time believes that it is important
to appropriately combine diverse assistance forms tailored to the conditions
in each developing country. Moreover, Japan is strongly aware of the fact that
new modalities could become powerful assistance forms in future and intends
to carefully study the advantages and disadvantages of these new modalities
through positive participation in cooperation with the international community.
For example, in Tanzania Japan has played a lead role in formulating the ASDP
in one of the priority sectors in the PRSP while at the same time ensuring the
ownership of the Government of Tanzania. (Refer to Column
5 in Part II.) And in Viet Nam Japan has played a central role among donor
countries and international organizations in expanding the economic growth strategy
in the PRSP. (Refer to Column 6 in Part II.) The DAC
Peer Review of Japan of December 2003 highly praised Japan’s measures in
these two countries.
The new approach to modalities initially arose based on the experience of and
reflection on assistance in Africa, where the effects of development assistance
have been harder to realize than in other regions. Therefore, the European donor
countries and international organizations that have Africa as the priority region
for assistance tend to take the initiative in researching these new approaches
and developing institutions for them, rather than Japan, which has determined
that Asia is its priority region for assistance. From this perspective too,
Japan believes that these new approaches to implementing assistance are valuable
for making Japan’s assistance more effective and efficient.
(b) Harmonization of Procedures
Japan has been actively participating in and contributing to harmonization discussions
including preparation for the High-Level Forum on Harmonization. Based on the
belief that efforts on harmonization should not be solely donor-driven but rather
that it is essential to clarify specifically the items which the developing
country itself actually feels are a burden, Japan has proposed the implementation
of a harmonization needs survey in the OECD-DAC and has provided the funds for
the survey. Before the forum Japan jointly held a preparatory workshop in the
Asian region with the ADB and the World Bank. Through the workshop the principles
that Japan places importance on in advancing harmonization—“respect
for ownership,” “approaches tailored to the actual situation in each
country,” “respect for diverse assistance modalities,” etc. were
shared. These principles of Japan’s were reflected in the Rome Declaration
on Harmonization.
Japan has become the vice-chair of the Working Party on Aid Effectiveness and
Donor Practices newly established in the OECD-DAC in response to the Rome meeting
and has been actively participating in discussions. For example, it held an
Asia regional workshop in Viet Nam in October as a follow-up to the Rome meeting.
Furthermore, JBIC is actively advancing harmonization of procedures between
the World Bank and the ADB in the countries of Asia, etc. Specifically, with
respect to procurement, JBIC is drawing up procurement guidelines and tender
documents, etc.; with respect to financial management, it is standardizing financial
reports and progress reports, etc.; with respect to the environment, it is producing
standards and documents for environmental impact evaluation; and with respect
to procedures, it is implementing standardization, etc. In Viet Nam, in addition
to these three banks JBIC is working with the French development agency, the
Agence Française de Développement (AfD), and a German development
bank, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW). And JBIC is taking these kinds
of measures in the Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Jamaica too.
| Column 6 | Measures to Promote Aid Coordination in Viet Nam |
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Japan is actively promoting aid coordination in Viet Nam
based on the two principles of “communication with and participation
in the international community” and “improvement of modalities
in order to realize more effective and efficient assistance.”
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Box 5 .DAC Recommendation on Untying ODA to the
LDCs
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1. Overview of the Recommendation
2. Status of Implementation of Untied ODA by Japan Japan, in its relationship with the recommendation, is already implementing 100% untied ODA on a procurement basis. Untied ODA was 81.1% of Japan’s total bilateral ODA (excluding technical cooperation and administrative expenses) in 2001 on a pledged value basis, the third highest level among the G8 countries behind the UK, at 93.9% and Germany, at 84.6%. |
| Column 7 | The Index of Developmental Commitment and Japan’s Objections to It |
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In April 2003, a think-tank situated in Washington D.C.
made a report indexing and ranking policies promoted by developed countries
in six areas (foreign aid, international trade, investment, acceptance
of immigrants, peacekeeping operations, and environment). Released in
“Foreign Policy,” an American political journal, this magazine
ranked Japan at the bottom of 21 developed countries in terms of overall
scores.
Japan’s ODA budgets have been slashed in recent years in the severe economic and fiscal circumstances. The officials in charge at Japanese government are enhancing the efficiency of assistance through ODA reforms and are making a strategic approach to issues such as poverty reduction, the consolidation of peace, human security, etc. Of course it is important for Japan to evaluate the assistance and to tirelessly advance reform, but at the same time Japan seeks to carry out public relations to ensure that its efforts are properly appreciated and to actively take part in international discussions about development. |
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22. For an overview and the outcomes of the “High-Level Forum on Harmonization” refer to the MOFA homepage at http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/gaiko/oda/doukou/dac/chowaka_gh.html (in Japanese)
