Promoting Health and Human Development

• The Women in Development ( WID ) initiative seeks to enhance young women's education, and to expand training and financing for women's microenterprise programs in developing countries. The U.S. and Japan have already begun to work jointly in Guatemala in girls' primary education. Joint WID cooperation programs are also under way in Cambodia and Egypt.

• Population and Health initiatives are designed to promote child health, constrain the increase in population growth, fight the spread of HIV/AIDS, and address other health concerns in developing countries. Under these initiatives, the U.S. and Japan have successfully launched joint missions in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Cooperation on polio has moved from the Western Pacific where that disease is now eradicated to Southeast and South Asia, and the U.S. and Japan are jointly working with other international and local partners in Africa as well in order to eradicate polio by the year 2000. Both countries plan to continue their assistance to NGOs who play an important role in this field.

• Under the initiative on Global Food Supply, the U.S. and Japan will collaborate with the aim of resolving the critical problems posed by lack of reliable food supplies in countries facing hunger and malnutrition, and work to ensure the world's capacity to supply food.

• Under the Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases initiative, the U.S. and Japan have held substantive discussions on how to respond to the global emergence of new diseases such as E.coli. O157-17, Ebola fever, and cholera O1349, and the resurgence of diseases once thought to have been conquered such as tuberculosis, yellow fever and malaria.

  

• Under the initiative on Counternarcotics, the U.S. and Japan have stepped up bilateral efforts to reduce the supply of and demand for narcotics, including cooperating in law enforcement, anti-money laundering, and control of precursor chemicals. Both countries contributed to the "UNDCP Asia Pacific Training Seminar on Maritime Drug Law Enforcement" in Japan in October 1997 to facilitate cooperation on drug law enforcement which the UNDCP has been promoting by conducting programs on maritime drug law enforcement techniques. In Peru, both countries have been supporting cultivation of the tropical fruit "Camu Camu" as a cash crop substitute for Coca-leaves, the raw material of narcotics.

• The U.S. and Japan will strengthen cooperation under the Counterterrorism initiative and intensify the research and development of technologies to prevent terrorism and to detect, and apprehend terrorists. Especially, cooperation in this field in the Asia Pacific region is to be promoted. For example, Japan, the U.S. and other concerned countries are planning to exchange their experiences and information concerning security measures for major international events such as the 18th Olympic Winter Games, Nagano 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan.

• Under the initiative on Natural and Man-made Disaster Reduction, the U.S. and Japan collaborate to mitigate natural disasters, including earthquake countermeasures, which were discussed in the Second Earthquake Policy Symposium in Kobe in September 1997. Under the Earthquake Disaster Mitigation Partnership both sides agreed to enhance cooperative research on topics such as long-term earthquake prediction in order to reduce the losses caused by earthquakes. In addition, the U.S. and Japan have collaborated to develop a Pan-Pacific Natural Disaster Watch Network surveillance system for observing and exchanging information on such phenomena. As for oil spill response, the U.S. and Japan jointly conducted a study on, among others, how an oil spill affects the ecological system.

• Under the Civil Society and Democratization initiative, the U.S. and Japan are cooperating in efforts to encourage the development of civil society and are working together to support election preparation and monitoring, strengthening of judicial systems and similar programs. In 1997 a coordinated "Seminar on Promoting Civil Society and Democratic Society" was held in Japan and the U.S. for members of the four major political parties of El Salvador.

  

• Under the Conservation initiative, the U.S.-Japan environmental policy dialogue has focussed on areas of bilateral cooperation on priority global environmental issues such as climate change, biodiversity, hazardous waste, and ozone layer depletion.

  The U.S. and Japan are jointly funding projects worldwide which protect endangered forests and promote sustainable forest management.

  The U.S. and Japan also continue to coordinate training of wetlands experts to promote conservation activities in accordance with the Ramsar Convention and will cooperate on shorebird conservation.

  Rich in biodiversity, coral reefs represent an important marine ecosystem which is critical to the healthy functioning of economically valuable tourism and fishing industries. Together with several other international partners, the U.S. and Japan have galvanized world support for the International Coral Reef Initiative. This initiative encourages citizens and nations to take responsibility for conserving these valuable marine resources. The U.S. and Japan are also collaborating to support the establishment of a marine research center in Palau. And both countries have been conducting ocean observation and research for the study of global climate change.

• Under the initiative on Development Assistance for the Environment, the U.S. and Japan fund projects throughout Latin America, the Caribbean and the Asia-Pacific region to protect fragile nature reserves through the Parks in Peril program.

• Under Regional Networks and Institutes for Global Change Research, the U.S. and Japan cooperate to develop the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research(APN) and the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research(IAI). Through their activities both countries collaborate to support global environmental research in each region.

• Under the new initiative on Global Change Research and Prediction, the U.S. and Japan work together on research, observation and development of models in order to analyze and predict Global Change Phenomenon such as El Nino. Progress in this field has been made through setting up the International Pacific Research Center in Hawaii and the International Arctic Research Center in Alaska.

• Under the Global Observation Information Network, the U.S. and Japan plan to establish a global system for sharing scientific information about the earth.

• Under the initiative on Environmental and Energy-efficient Technologies, the U.S. and Japan are exchanging information on carbon dioxide sequestration and developing technologies to find substitutes for ozone-depleting chlorofluorcarbons. Both governments have also collaborated on multilateral efforts, including submitting the results of the interregional seminar on global mapping to the Special Session of the U.N. General Assembly on Implementation of Agenda 21 in June, 1997.

• Under the new initiative on Environmental Education, both countries are exploring ways to involve all elements of civil society in active participation in efforts to protect and preserve the global environment. The U.S. and Japan are exploring the possibility of using computer networking to further expand the "Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment Program (GLOBE)" in developing countries.

  

• Under the Civil Industrial Technology Initiative, the U.S. and Japan bring together Japanese and U.S. researchers from the private sector and national laboratories to conduct cooperative research in twelve areas, including ceramics and bioprocessing. Both countries also support JITMT (U.S.-Japan Industrial Technology Management Training Program ), a program which places young U.S. researchers in Japanese companies and national laboratories. "Techno-Growth House", established in Tsukuba Science City to provide research facilities and accommodations for foreign researchers, has received high marks from the American scientists and researchers who have used its facilities.

• Under the initiative on Transportation, the U.S. and Japan have agreed to cooperate on rail seismic design, mass transportation technology for the 18th Olympic Winter Games, Nagano 1998, earthquake disaster prevention for seaside facilities and IC cards/smart card technology and have agreed to continue cooperation in such areas as intelligent transport systems, road traffic management, and noise reduction.

• Under the initiative on Educational Technology for the 21st Century, the U.S. and Japan are exploring the potential use of Internet and other technologies in schools for disabled pupils and students. They have brought together educational technology experts and officials with educators and school groups to discuss how to promote the use of technology.

  

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