Japan's Official Development Assistance White Paper 2010
2. Reform of JICA
With the establishment of the new JICA (Note 8) in October 2008, JICA became an aid implementing organization which ensures the integrated implementation of the three types of aid schemes. JICA will take advantage of its expertise and network in gauging and analyzing the development needs and situation in the field, developing a new aid scheme and areas of assistance, and strengthening the aid implementation functions. To this end, JICA will continue to reinforce its analytical and conceptual abilities, develop its implementation capacity, and ensure the efficient implementation of programs. At the same time, duplication of efforts between the Ministry and JICA, adjustment costs and other items which can be streamlined, and responsibilities which can be transferred from the Ministry to JICA will be identified and all operations will be streamlined. Through these measures, the Ministry and JICA will better fulfill their respective roles and generate greater synergies.
As discussed in the “ODA Review”, JICA will reinforce its aid implementation capacity around the following three pillars.
(1) Enhancing program and project planning capacity
JICA will enhance its development needs analysis in which it has high expertise, and strengthen its program and project planning capacity. Specifically, JICA will analyze the needs and development policies of recipient countries and design five-year country and sectoral programs. Upon consultation with partner country governments and other donors and aid agencies, JICA will propose to reflect the programs in the CAPs of the Government of Japan. JICA will take advantage of the JICA Research Institute which was established when the new JICA was launched, and develop and raise awareness about new models of assistance bearing in mind Japan’s experience and technologies and changes in development needs. Current efforts include support to Africa for increasing rice production, an infrastructure development package, support to tackle climate change, and promotion of partnership with BOP businesses.
(2) Building flexible implementation capacity
The programs designed will steadily reflect past lessons learned and other considerations during the planning stage (to ensure the thorough implementation of the PDCA cycle) and will be implemented based on appropriate outcome indicators. In addition, in order to develop an effective aid implementation mechanism, JICA will encourage staff to work in the field. JICA will also lead development policy discussions among diverse stakeholders, including experts, volunteers, domestic offices, and technical trainees, and strengthen NGO assistance and strengthen partnership with the private sector, including through the restructuring of overseas investment and loans. JICA will also take full-fledged steps to improve the implementation mechanism in the field, including enhancing the security management system in unstable developing countries and regions, such as areas undergoing peace-building.
(3) Thorough cost reduction and strengthening governance
Bearing in mind the results of the screening process by the Government Revitalization Unit, JICA aims to further enhance the efficiency of its program implementation by thoroughly cutting costs and strengthening governance. JICA will install a system to receive proposals to improve its operations from various stakeholders, including experts, volunteers, NGOs, and consultants. In addition, JICA will strengthen its internal control functions (e.g., program review and evaluation; ex-post audit; compliance system; and evaluation, procurement and monitoring) and reduce costs through reviewing its acceptance of trainees, travel costs, and commissioned work.
Notes:
(8) The former JICA was principally responsible for promoting the implementation of technical cooperation and grant aid. Under the revised JICA law, the new JICA which was established on October 1, 2008 is responsible for the above, as well as for the implementation of ODA loans which were managed by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) as part of their overseas economic cooperation operations. Moreover, the new JICA became responsible for the implementation of some grants previously implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.