Japan's Official Development Assistance White Paper 2005
Next PageMain Text > Part II ODA DISBURSEMENTS IN FISCAL YEAR 2004 > Chapter 2 Details and New Policies about Japan's ODA: Striving for Further ODA Reforms > Section 5. Formulation and Implementation of ODA Policy > 3. Matters Essential to Effective Implementation > (2) Ensuring Appropriate Procedures
(2) Ensuring Appropriate Procedures
Development without consideration for impacts on environment or society may produce positive effects in the short-term, but in the medium- and long-term it will impede the socio-economic development of the country and is contrary to the concept of sustainable development which Japan has traditionally promoted.
Japan has been taking steps to avoid or minimize any possible negative impacts of Japan's ODA on the environment and local community. For this purpose, implementing agencies formulated and utilize environmental guidelines to confirm that the ODA project gives proper consideration not only to the impact on the environment, but also to social impacts such as involuntary displacements of residents and the violation of rights of indigenous peoples regarding land and resources when implementing ODA.
Japan has implemented ex-ante confirmation of measures taken by developing countries in accordance with the various environmental guidelines and, in recent years, has been working to further enhance those guidelines. Concerning yen loan, the JBIC Guidelines for Confirmation of Environmental and Social Considerations was established and put into effect in October 2003 after conducting public hearings and listening to a broad range of voices from experts, NGOs, and others. These new guidelines stipulate that JBIC should consider not only environmental factors, but also social ones such as the displacement of residents and the impact on aboriginal groups and women.
Concerning technical cooperation, the "JICA Environmental and Social Considerations Guidelines" were revised in March and enforced in April 2004 after obtaining a broad range of views from outside JICA, including those of external experts and NGOs. With regard to grant aid, the "Grant Aid Assessment Guidelines" corresponding to the JICA Environmental and Social Considerations Guidelines, were prepared and provisionally applied from August 2004.
Another requirement for effective and efficient ODA implementation is conducting appropriate and efficient procurement with regard to quality and price for equipment, consultancy services and the like and, to this end, efforts are underway to simplify and accelerate procedures (for further details regarding procurement, refer to (3) of this Section, "Prevention of Fraud and Corruption").
Japan will continue to implement effective and efficient ODA that gives consideration to the environmental and social impacts.
Concerning grant aid, "The Committee for Proper Implementation of Grant Aid" consisting of experts in finance, development economics, law, and accounting and a person from NGO has been held in order to incorporate external viewpoints in the selection process of grant aid projects. In this committee, extensive discussions were held aimed at increasing the efficiency and transparency of grant aid projects, and the resulting suggestions and recommendations have been reflected in operations.