Japan's Official Development Assistance White Paper 2010
(5) Enhancing Functions at the Field Level
In order to enhance policy dialogue conducted with the governments of developing countries, country-based ODA Task Forces (ODA-TFs) made up of overseas diplomatic missions and local JICA offices have been established in many developing countries. ODA-TFs fulfill a wide range of roles in addition to clarifying the needs of each recipient country. These roles include participating in the formulation of assistance policies like Country Assistance Plans and Rolling Plans, holding policy consultations with the governments of developing countries, working together with developing countries and multilateral organizations, offering suggestions on possible collaborations and reviews of aid schemes, and engaging in the formation and selection of candidate assistance projects.
In addition, aid coordination is gaining momentum at the local level in accordance with the drafting and revising of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP). Since FY2006, Japan has posted coordinators for economic cooperation at overseas diplomatic missions to provide a system for collecting information and implementing studies relating to aid coordination, as well as for providing a place for disseminating information overseas concerning Japan’s aid policies and making relevant recommendations.
