Japan's Official Development Assistance White Paper 2010
Section 2 Promoting Public Understanding and Support
Public understanding and support for ODA, which is funded in part by taxpayer money, is crucial. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs promotes efforts to deepen public understanding of ODA, and furthermore, is developing ways by which people themselves will be able to address each of the issues
In order to obtain public understanding and support which are essential to the implementation of development cooperation, as well as to improve development cooperation and communicate to people what its significance and situation are, Japan must make efforts to efficiently transmit information and promote public participation, in coordination with international organizations and NGOs.
As a result of the “ODA Review”, it was decided that in order to promote public understanding and support, measures to this end will be restructured primarily under the following pillars: public “participation” in development cooperation; and “increasing visibility” of ODA.
1. Broadening Public Participation and Sympathy
By providing as many people as possible with opportunities to experience the work of development cooperation and having them gain exposure to the actual situation of ODA, public participation will be promoted and sympathy heightened. Furthermore, a national campaign to raise awareness will be strengthened, so that a wider range of people can become familiar with development cooperation.