Japan's Official Development Assistance White Paper 2007
Next PageMain Text > Part II ODA DISBURSEMENTS IN FISCAL YEAR 2005 > Chapter 2 Details about Japan's ODA > Section 2. Measures for Each of the Priority Issues > 4. Peacebuilding > (5) Anti-Personnel Landmines and Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW)
(5) Anti-Personnel Landmines and Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW)
<Overview>
Anti-personnel landmines and small arms and light weapons (SALW) mainly buried or illicitly spread in conflict regions are a grave humanitarian issue because they have indiscriminately killed or injured even non-combatants, including children. Furthermore, these landmines and weapons could hinder reconstruction and development activities or cause the recurrence of conflicts.
In Japan's ODA Charter and the Medium-Term Policy on ODA it is stipulated that special consideration will be given to the collection and destruction of weapons, including landmines and small arms, and to assistance to ensure stability and security for landmine victims.
<Japan's Efforts>
● Assistance for Mine Action Projects
Under the Zero Victims Program,82 Japan has been actively providing assistance to various efforts in mine-affected countries including mine clearance, extending over ¥28 billion since 1998. At the first Review Conference of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (Ottawa Convention) held in December 2004, Japan announced its new policy on landmines in which it would continue to provide assistance for mine action on a similar scale to the previous support, with an emphasis on Asia, the Middle East and Africa according to the following three principles: (1) contribution to peacebuilding; (2) valuing the perspective of human security; and (3) close cooperation between the government, NGOs, the private sector and academia, including in the efforts to promote technological development.
As an embodiment of the new policy on landmines announced in 2004, it was decided in June 2006 to provide assistance (approximately US$1.75 million) for mine risk education and for victim assistance in Sudan through the Trust Fund for Human Security, with the purpose of establishing a basis for community-based initiatives to address the threats posed by landmines and unexploded ordnance. Moreover, Japan is working on mine detection and removal technology that utilizes Japan's advanced technology in order to improve the safety and effectiveness of demining activities. Assistance for resolving the issue of landmines and unexploded ordnance will continue to be proactively provided in the future.
● Support for Measures against Small Arms and Light Weapons
In terms of locally-based efforts aimed at curtailing illicit trade in SALW, Japan has supported projects that combine collection of weapons with development, in which Japan provides infrastructure (such as the repair and construction of roads, wells and schools) to communities that have totally surrendered weapons. In Cambodia, where this type of project has been in progress since 2003, more than 27,000 SALW had been collected by the end of March 2007. In addition, Japan is reinforcing assistance and decided in February 2007 to contribute more than ¥400 million through the UNDP to projects for collecting SALW in the Central African Republic and the Republic of Congo.
Additionally, in efforts to broadly contribute to measures against SALW, Japan also provides assistance for developing legal structures and capacity building of law enforcement organizations, which secures the effectiveness of regulations on the detection and prevention of the illegal inflow of weapons; implements projects for disarmament and re-integration of ex-combatants and child soldiers; and conducts seminars held by SALW specialists. In March 2007, the Tokyo Workshop on Small Arms and Light Weapons was hosted by Japan. Japan's contribution to efforts to tackle SALW totaled approximately ¥40.1 billion by the end of FY2006.
Chart II-30. Disbursements to Assist Countermeasures for Anti-personnel Landmines since FY1998
Box 7. Cultural Grant