The year 2024 marks 70 years since Japan began providing Official Development Assistance (ODA) to developing countries.
Based on Japan’s own experience and knowledge, we have been helping developing countries lay the foundation for their development and building a peaceful and stable international society. In keeping with the changing times, the “Outline of Development Cooperation “*1, which serves as a guideline for Japan’s ODA, was revised last year. How will the significance of development cooperation and JICA’s role change? Akiko Sanada, Director of the General Planning Division of JICA’s Planning Department, spoke with international political scientist Hiroshi Nakanishi, Professor of Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Law, who chaired a panel of experts on the revision of the Development Cooperation Program Outline.
International Political Scientist Hiroshi Nakanishi (left) and Akiko Sanada, Director of the General Planning Division of JICA’s Planning Department (right)
Working Together to Solve Global Issues in a Chaotic International Situation. The New Significance of Development Cooperation
Sanada: It is said that the international community is currently at a historical turning point and facing a complex of crises, including global-scale issues such as climate change, as well as the risk of global fragmentation. Please begin by telling us how you view the situation surrounding the international community today.
Nakanishi: In a word, the international situation is becoming chaotic, with the war in Ukraine, and Israel and Hamas entering into a state of war in Palestine. Rather than a single axis of conflict dominating the world, there are various lines of division and confrontation, and the intensity of these confrontations is increasing.
From a longer-term perspective, the basic nature of international politics began to change around 2010. one of the challenges of the 21st century is that global warming and biodiversity issues can no longer be ignored politically. Another is the massification of information. The weight of information exchanged in the Internet space has expanded rapidly, and the nature of social processes and social communication, including politics, has changed dramatically.
While many agree that there are common global challenges, the political units have become decentralized and smaller, which creates the context for a state of great turmoil. Moreover, with the rise of China and Russia and their increasingly powerful nature, political fissures are becoming more serious in the West. We believe that the picture is that there is no longer a leading response to the current chaotic situation.
Nakanishi says that the current state of the international community is similar to the 1930s, before World War II, when small-scale regional conflicts were taking place in various parts of the world. He points out that in the long history of the world, such chaotic periods occur approximately once every 100 years.
Sanada: Despite the decentralization and chaos, all of humanity is now facing common global challenges. What role can development cooperation play as the world seeks to overcome differences in values and interests, and to cooperate and coordinate with each other?
Nakanishi The context of development cooperation has changed considerably from when it began in the 1950s to today. At that time, it was conceived within the framework of advanced countries providing various types of capital and technological support to encourage the development of developing economies. Since then, globalization has progressed since the 1980s, developing countries have also developed their economies and technological levels, and private-sector economic activities and technology transfers across national borders have become more active.
Because of these changes, development cooperation today is at its core about sharing and cooperating on global issues of global public interest. As more and more issues cannot be addressed by governments and other public sectors alone, ODA takes on the role of leading the direction of international cooperation. In terms of communication, another major theme of development cooperation is the promotion of digitalization with norms that prevent disinformation and AI run amok.
On the other hand, poverty and social disadvantage do exist in globalization, but they are no longer limited to the developing countries and the poorest countries of the past. This is not necessarily limited to developing countries or the poorest countries of the past. Recognizing these issues as common global challenges and cooperating with them is part of today’s development cooperation. In terms of traditional economic power and economic scale, the world has generally leveled off, and developed countries are no longer the providers and developing countries are no longer the recipients.
Chief Sanada states that with the relative small size of ODA in the development world, it is necessary to collaborate with various partners and take the lead in themes of global public interest.
As the world’s problems become more serious, Japan will also be affected. Building a Better Society through Mutual Aid”-Reaffirming Japan’s Philosophy of Development Cooperation
Sanada: In the process of revising the Development Cooperation Program Outline, it was discussed that, as the world is becoming more horizontal, the world should move away from North-South assistance and play a role in leading efforts to solve common issues by connecting the world horizontally. What are the main points of this revision?
Nakanishi: There is a debate over Japan’s development assistance and support, with some believing that it is an important Japanese diplomatic tool and others arguing that Japan should prioritize domestic support over overseas aid, as Japan is no longer the wealthy, comfortable economic powerhouse it once was, and domestic disasters and poverty are not negligible. However, whether it is environmental issues or SDG issues such as poverty, as global problems become more serious, Japan will also be affected and the situation will become more difficult. I would like the public to first recognize that it is not a matter of choosing between the two.
The concept of “human security “*2 that Japan has advocated internationally from the end of the 20th century to the 21st century has been reaffirmed as “a fundamental principle that underlies all of Japan’s development cooperation” in the Development Cooperation Program Outline. While the world is in chaos and there are divisions and conflicts due to differences in political systems and economic positions, at the micro level of individual human beings, there are more opportunities to share common issues and perceptions, partly due to technological advancements. The concept of human security in the broad sense of mutual assistance based on human connections and mutual support, from which a better society can be created, is the basic philosophy of Japan’s development cooperation, and I believe it has renewed significance for today.
As we spend precious national taxpayers’ money, we must not exclude the viewpoint that Japan’s development cooperation should contribute to Japan’s national interest. I believe that it is also in Japan’s national interest to realize the global public interest from a long-term and mutually beneficial perspective as much as possible.
2 Human security: A concept that encourages sustainable individual self-reliance and social development through protection and capacity building, focusing on each individual human being, to protect them from a wide range of serious threats to their survival, livelihood, and dignity, and to realize their rich potential.
Sanada: The concept of human security itself, even for those of us working in the field of development cooperation, has been difficult to grasp in some areas. However, it is precisely because we Japanese are now facing new problems such as the Corona disaster, climate change, disasters, the lights and shadows of digital technology, and the declining birthrate and aging population that we can understand human security as our own matter and find meaning in it.
JICA supports developing countries in various fields of nation-building and human resource development. Its efforts are steady and take a long time, but I also believe that they are uniquely Japanese. Especially recently, I feel that it is important to work with people in developing countries to provide support that will lead to the development of better societies, so that society as a whole will recognize that the development of democratic societies will lead to improvements in their own lives and the environment. I am working with the spirit that by doing so, we can play a role in international cooperation to prevent developing countries from being swept away by the logic and various interests of the major powers.
With officials from the project working on sustainable management of the World Heritage city of Luang Prabang during his assignment to Laos from 2019-2021 (Chief Sanada is third from left). The project was going through a difficult time with a sharp decline in tourism due to the Corona disaster, but we worked together to find ways to protect and develop the city for the future.
Nakanishi The basic perception of political scientists is that democratization has been on a downward trend worldwide for the past 15 to 20 years. There are many reasons for this, but the current political framework has become too large and politics has become too distant from the average person, which leads to a trend of political fragmentation.
In the end, what matters for politics is how stable and fulfilling the local people’s living conditions are. Only when there is underpinning at the local level can democracy be vibrant. Combining economic development and new innovations with this will also strengthen democracy.
Of course, that is a very roundabout approach. Japan alone cannot change the world. However, global politics will not stabilize and a new order will not emerge without a review of the society around us. In this respect, what JICA is doing is very valuable. The original idea of democracy is to build relationships of trust on a local level, which in turn stabilizes the larger political system. It is important to share this activity with the world, transcending cultural backgrounds. This is one of the important roles of development cooperation.
Toward Global Co-Creation and Solidarity. JICA’s Role and Contribution to Japanese Society in Question
Sanada The revised Development Cooperation Program Outline emphasizes the importance of co-creation and solidarity. What further role do you think JICA should play in this context?
Nakanishi JICA, including its predecessors, has been an organization specializing in development cooperation for about 50 years since its establishment, and the human resources and experience it has accumulated are Japan’s assets. Now, it is important to consider how to make the most of this experience in the new context of today, and how to reinvest the know-how and human networks that have been accumulated.
We need to become an organization that people are interested in and want to know more about JICA. It would be good if we could show more examples and mechanisms of how people from overseas become actively involved in Japanese society as a result of their connection with JICA.
Sanada: As stated in the outline, we hope to use JICA’s knowledge and human resources to help solve Japan’s social problems and to promote economic growth by circulating the solutions and social values created through co-creation with developing countries through dialogue and collaboration with Japan.
Human resources who participated in the Overseas Cooperation Volunteers have experiences of trial and error in different cultures where they themselves were completely vulnerable overseas. After returning to Japan, such young people have also started to find new solutions to various local issues in Japan that go beyond the conventional ways of doing things.
In addition, more than 8,000 trainees from developing countries come to Japan every year. We will try to create opportunities for both sides to broaden their perspectives, such as connecting them with small and medium-sized local businesses and discussing solutions to problems in developing countries, or conversely, having people from developing countries work together to address local issues in Japan from a different perspective.
A Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer (far right) is working in Madagascar to improve the nutrition of the local population by preparing menus that make use of local ingredients. It is hoped that the members who have returned to Japan will also be active in Japan in the future.
Nakanishi: A major challenge for Japan itself is to get not only young people but also people from various walks of life involved in innovation and problem-solving in Japanese society. What JICA has done is to build trust among people. This is valuable for Japanese society and will be effective in many ultimate situations in international politics and development cooperation.
Sanada JICA’s vision is “Connecting the world through trust. I was posted to Laos during the Corona disaster, and I was approached by Laotian government officials who wanted to work with JICA to figure out how to overcome the difficult situation. I believe this is because of the trust that JICA has built up over the years. We will continue to promote our development cooperation work while reaffirming the value of that trust and connection.
Mr. Nakanishi encourages Chief Sanada that what JICA has done and is trying to do is to build trust among people.
Hiroshi Nakanishi
International Political Scientist; Professor, Graduate School of Law, Kyoto University
He was involved as a member of the Roundtable of Experts during the formulation of the 2015 Development Cooperation Program Outline and chaired the Roundtable of Experts on the revision of the current Development Cooperation Program Outline. His areas of expertise include security theory, Japanese diplomacy, and international order theory.
Akiko Sanada
Chief, General Planning Division, Planning Department, JICA
Joined the former Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2002. He was mainly engaged in urban development and urban environment-related development cooperation, and worked in the Bangladesh and Laos offices before assuming his current position.
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