(3) Assistance for Democratization
Strengthening the foundation for democracy in developing countries leads to the people’s participation in governance and development, and to the protection and promotion of human rights. In this regard, it is a critical component of encouraging medium- to long-term stability and development. In particular, based also on the principles of the Development Cooperation Charter, it is important that Japan actively assists developing countries which take proactive steps towards democratization, and supports their efforts to shift to democratic systems that include electoral assistance.
<Japan’s Efforts>
At the Japan-Cambodia Summit Meeting held in December 2013, Prime Minister Hun Sen requested electoral reform assistance to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In response to this request, since May 2014, Japan has undertaken activities, including dispatching a study team to determine the specific assistance needs and identify the concrete scope of the cooperation, and inviting members of the Cambodian ruling and opposition parties to Japan for providing opportunities to observe the House of Representatives elections. At the Japan-Cambodia Summit Meeting held on July 4, 2015, Prime Minister Abe announced that Japan would continue to support Cambodia’s electoral reforms through: (i) Provision of technical advice; (ii) Dispatch of experts; and (iii) Supply of equipment. Prime Minister Hun Sen expressed strong expectations. On this basis, since September 2015, Japan has dispatched experts and proceeded with concrete cooperation for electoral reforms.
For implementing the Assembly of the Union General Election in Myanmar in November 2015 in a peaceful and calm manner, Japan provided ¥111 million in grant aid for “The Programme for Supporting the 2015 Myanmar General Elections (through UNDP)” to provide supplies necessary for holding the elections. An election observer mission headed by Mr. Yohei Sasakawa, Special Envoy of the Government of Japan for National Reconciliation in Myanmar, was dispatched to monitor the elections. With respect to Timor-Leste, Japan signed The Project for Electoral Assistance for Social Inclusion, Multi- Tier Governance and Strengthening of Rule of Law (in cooperation with UNDP) with UNDP in August 2016, and is providing training, technology support, and equipment to Electoral Management Bodies, journalism, the judiciary, and police for the democratic and peaceful implementation of elections in the country going forward, including the presidential election and National Parliament elections planned for 2017.
These types of assistance are expected to contribute to holding smooth elections in a fair and transparent manner and to consolidating peace and democracy in the recipient countries, along with bringing about the peace and stability of the international community.
| Media Assistance
In many cases, the media is utilized for political purposes in countries affected by conflict around the world. A major challenge for preventing conflict is to foster an impartial, neutral, and accurate media that is not utilized by politicians.
•Ukraine
Seminar on Knowledge and Experience Sharing (Assistance for Ukraine’s Democratization)
Technical cooperation project (March 2015 – September 2015)
As the situation in Ukraine worsened in November 2013, Japan set out the following three new basic assistance policies to support the domestic reform by and stabilization of Ukraine, (i) improvement of the economic situation, (ii) restoration of democracy, and (iii) promotion of domestic dialogue and unification. As a member of the G7, Japan has played a proactive role in finding solutions to the various issues surrounding Ukraine. In July 2014, Minister for Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida visited Ukraine and announced that Japan would enhance its technical cooperation so as to contribute to legal system reform and corruption prevention. Following the announcement, JICA organized country-focused training for Ukraine, the “Seminar on knowledge and Experience Sharing (Assistance for Ukraine’s Democratization),” as a new measure to contribute to the “restoration of democracy”.
As part of the “Seminar on Knowledge and Experience Sharing (Assistance for Ukraine’s Democratization)”, training courses including “Support for Public Broadcasting Institution”, “three courses for Support for Legislative Body”, and “Support for Administrative and Financial Reform” were offered in Japan. Members of the media, Supreme Council (the parliament of Ukraine), Supreme Council Anti-Corruption Commission and Central Election Commission visited Japan from Ukraine as JICA trainees. With the objective of sharing Japan’s knowledge and experience, trainees deepened their knowledge through lectures, visits and discussions on Japan’s Parliamentary system, election system, work of local government, mass media coverage and broadcasting.
In addition to the training in Japan, an Anti-Corruption Workshop in Kiev for Ukrainians engaged in the ODA loan project was offered. Furthermore, Japan invited experts on anti-corruption measures from Poland, Germany and the EU as lecturers, allowing donors to make presentations on their initiatives and providing opportunities for donor coordination.
The knowledge gained by the trainees is expected to contribute to the democratization and stabilization of Ukraine.
•Kosovo
The Project for Capacity Development of Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK)
Technical cooperation project (October 2015 – )
A scene of joint filming of the RTK1 and RTK2 programs (Photo: JICA)
Kosovo, which gained independence in 2008 from Serbia after years of conflict in the 1990s, is considered to be the least developed country in the Western Balkans and also economically and socially unstable.
Through the “Kosovo Independent Media Project” carried out by the UNDP from May 2000 to August 2002, Japan implemented cooperation for strengthening the capabilities of impartial media.
In 2015 JICA commenced the “Project for Capacity Development of Radio Television of Kosovo” to support Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK). Kosovo is a multiethnic state with a mixture of Albanian residents, which account for 90% of the citizens and others including Serbs and Turks. At the time of the independence movement, many people died, and even after the end of the conflict, a sense of hostility amongst the ethnic groups has not been eliminated. In this project, JICA has provided assistance to RTK, the only broadcaster in Kosovo possessing channels for ethnic minorities, for providing unbiased, accurate, neutral, and impartial information to all ethnic groups and making this project a model of “ethnic reconciliation through broadcasting” towards building infrastructure for ethnic reconciliation.
JICA has provided assistance to RTK for mainly strengthening capabilities in the two areas: (1) “operation, maintenance, and management of television broadcasting equipment” and (2) “program production and news reporting”. In April 2016 NHK International, Inc., which conducts projects commissioned by JICA, provided staff members from RTK with training in Tokyo. Those who participated in the training learned and deepened their knowledge on techniques of interviews and program production through lectures and site visits.
It is expected that the capabilities of public broadcasting in Kosovo will be strengthened and impartial transmission of information will be achieved with the support of Japan. (As of August 2016)