Silviase/jgov_v1.4_full_ann huggingface dataset:
and improve the legal systems and adminis\-trative institutions that support the implemen\-tation of these policies.

Another priority is the establishment of mechanisms to protect weaker members of society—the destitute, women, children, and the aged—from the various shocks that accompany the globalization process. In recent years, it has

# TOPIC 3. PROMOTING HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT WITH YEN LOANS —HIGHER EDUCATION LOAN FUND PROJECT: MALAYSIA—

Malaysia is important to Japan both politically and economically, and the two countries are linked by a relationship of close interdependence, especially in the fields of trade and investment. Malaysia has been a pro-Japan country which makes efforts to learn from Japan especially since Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad proposed the Look East policy in 1981. $ ^{*} $ Since 2001 Malaysia has been working towards its evolution as a “K-economy” (knowledge economy) through national economic development under the Eighth Malaysian Plan. The training of people with specialist knowledge and technical skills is an urgent priority, and Japan is supporting Malaysia’s efforts to achieve qualitative and quantitative improvements in its institutions of higher learning, especially in the fields of science and engineering. One example of this is the yen loan provided through the “Higher Education Loan Fund Project.”

The aim of the project is to train engineers needed for Malaysia’s economic development by enabling students to attend the science and engineering faculties of Japanese universities after completing their education in Malaysia. The loans are distributed through an educational foundation in Malaysia to meet study-related costs, such as Japanese-language training, and to provide overseas study scholarships. To reduce the cost of studying in Japan, a “twinning program,” the transfer system for the undergraduate level, was introduced in 1999.

During the first phase of the program, approximately 300 students studied in Japan between 1995 and 1999. There are plans to accept another 400 students during the second phase.

Training in Malaysia includes Japanese-language instruction. “The teachers lecture in Japanese, and the students use Japanese textbooks and take notes in Japanese,” said one of the monitors of the Monitoring Group of Citizens on Japan’s ODA, who observed activities in fiscal year 2000. “The students are extremely motivated.” The students have also expressed satisfaction with the scheme. A student who arrived in Japan in 1997 mentioned, “I’ve made many friends and am becoming used to life here. I am enjoying my studies in Japan.” These students will not only contribute to Malaysia’s economic development but are also expected to remain friends of Japan as they pursue their careers in various parts of the world.
# TOPIC 4. DEVELOPMENT OF THE GREATER MEKONG SUBREGION

The 4,900 km Mekong River flows through Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam, and Yunnan Province in China. With an area of 795,000 km $ ^{2} $ , the Mekong basin is more than twice as large as Japan. The region is richly endowed with a broad range of resources and has a population of approximately 250 million. The concept of “Mekong Subregion Development” is wide-area development spanning all the countries and regions in the Mekong basin. The anticipated benefits include stronger ties among countries in the region, the elimination of imbalances within ASEAN through efforts to foster development among the newer ASEAN members, and closer regional integration.

Development of the Mekong basin began to attract international interest in the early 1990s, reflecting Indochina's increasing stability. The pace of activity slowed down after the 1997 crisis that struck many Asian economies, but the level of interest has started rising again with their recovery. Development of the Mekong basin has been a special priority since 1999, when ASEAN was expanded to 10 nations, due to the need to reduce intraregional disparities. In June 2000 the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) resolved to make the period from 2000 to 2009 “the Decade for Development of the Mekong River Basin.”

The development of the Mekong basin has long been a priority for Japan. Starting with its January 1993 proposal for the establishment of the “Forum for the Comprehensive Development of Indochina,” Japan has taken international initiatives to maintain and strengthen the development drive, including the hosting of ministerial meetings, symposiums, workshops, and other meetings. It has provided concrete support, including yen loans for the construction of the Second Mekong International Bridge between Thailand and Laos. It has also actively conferred both “hardware” support (for infrastructure like roads, bridges, and ports) and “software” assistance (such as for development surveys) on the projects related to the building of the trans-Indochina “East-West Corridor” aimed at developing infrastructure for transportation such as roads, bridges and ports.

In July 2001 Japan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) dispatched a joint survey mission to the region. The findings of that survey were reflected in the announcement, made during the ASEAN plus Three summit meeting and the Japan-ASEAN summit in November 2001, that future cooperation would focus on transforming the "East-West Corridor" into an East-West Economic Corridor and on the construction of a "Second East-West Corridor" linking Bangkok, Phnom Penh, and Ho Chi Minh City.

As the top donor for development efforts in the Mekong basin, Japan intends to work closely with local governments and with other major donors, including the ADB, to promote further development.
and elsewhere and make determined efforts to overcome global problems to ensure its own continuing prosperity and stability.

While food shortages and drugs are also pressing global issues, the analysis below focuses on environmental problems and infectious diseases, which have been the targets of concerted undertakings by the international community in recent years.

## (I) Global Environmental Issues

There is growing concern about the global environment, including the impact of global warming—caused by greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide—on ecosystems. In fact, the emission of these gases is rising. This is because of rapid urbanization and industrialization that developing countries are going through as well as the existing output from developed countries.

Apart from global warming, there is also concern about environmental degradation resulting from development activities and the erosion of the environmental foundations closely related to poverty in developing countries. If this situation is not rectified, it could lead to the destruction of the irreplaceable Earth’s ecosystem. $ ^{10} $

To deal with environmental issues, it will be necessary to break the vicious circle of environmental destruction and achieve “sustainable development.” $ ^{11} $ This requires closer cooperation between developing and developed countries and increased efforts by the international community as a whole. Japan experienced serious environmental problems during its postwar high-growth era. These problems were overcome—and economic growth was reconciled with environmental conservation—as a combined result of technological innovation in the private sector, government policies, and local government initiatives. Today Japan has a comparative advantage in this area and can make a valuable international contribution by properly transferring its technology and experience to developing countries through its ODA.

Environment-related cooperation is a major priority for Japan. For example, one of the key principles espoused in “Japan’s ODA Charter,” which was approved by the cabinet in 1992, is the pursuit of development in tandem with environmental conservation. At the UN General Assembly Special Session on Environment and Development in 1997, Japan announced the Initiatives for Sustainable Development (ISD) Toward the Twenty-first Century, which provide increased development assistance across a broad spectrum of environment-related issues, including atmospheric pollution, global warming, and protection of the natural environment. $ ^{12} $ Japan also announced “the Kyoto Initiative” as measures against global warming on the occasion of the Third Session of the Con-
ference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP 3), held in Kyoto in December 1997. $ ^{13} $

The key to successful environmental cooperation is support for human resources development and enhancement of policymaking and implementation capabilities so that developing countries can intensify their own undertakings for the environment. A distinguishing feature of Japanese environmental cooperation is the “center approach.” Because development has often been given priority over environmental protection in developing countries, capacity building in the agencies responsible for environmental protection is crucial. Under the center approach, Japan provides concentrated support to “environmental centers,” which are expected to become hubs for environmental administration, using a package of financial and technical assistance that includes dispatch of experts, the acceptance of trainees and the provision of equipment and financial assistance. Specific cooperation based on this approach began with assistance to Thailand’s “Environment Research and Training Center” in 1990. Since then it has also been applied in Indonesia, China, Chile, Mexico, and Egypt. Centers in these six countries are also expected to function as bases for environment-related assistance to neighboring countries. (See Section 1 (3) of this chapter for a discussion of South-South cooperation.) Several centers, including the one in Mexico, are already involved in activities of this type.

In fiscal year 2000, Japan’s environmental ODA amounted to ¥452.5 billion (on a commitment basis), equivalent to 32% of Japan’s total aid.

With regard to global warming, the reconvened UNFCCC COP 6 (July) and COP 7 (October and November) were held in 2001. Under the Kyoto Initiative, Japan has been providing bilateral ODA amounting to $2.4 billion a year to support measures against global warming. Japan’s efforts in this area received high praise at the reconvened COP 6 session. COP 7 resulted in an agreement on specific aspects of the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, including the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) for low-emission development. The use of ODA for CDM projects is vital since they contribute both to sustainable development and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries.

In 2002, which marked the tenth anniversary of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED, or the Earth Summit), “the World Summit on Sustainable Development” (WSSD) will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, to review the comprehensive efforts of the international community under “Agenda 21.” $ ^{14} $ It is very important for Japan to contribute towards efforts to address environmental issues that confront the international community by actively leading debate in the international community and by continuing to provide development aid based on its own experience and technology.

## (2) Controlling Infectious Diseases

Infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and polio affect “human security” because they
during the postwar era by making the improvement of public hygiene the core of its primary health care system $ ^{15} $ and the elimination of malaria in Okinawa. Japan is now using its experiences to assist developing countries.

In December 2000 Japan hosted “the Okinawa International Conference on Infectious Diseases Control” as a part of the follow-up process of the Kyushu-Okinawa Summit. The aim of the meeting was to extend the G8 initiatives against infectious diseases to the entire international community at both the governmental and non-governmental levels. Representatives of the G8, developing countries, international agencies, and NGOs discussed specific measures to combat infectious diseases. At the meeting, Japan emphasized the importance of partnership and coordination among all aid entities.

A concrete example of concerted action by the international community against an infectious disease was the Kyoto Meeting on Poliomyelitis Eradication in the Western Pacific in 2000. At this meeting—sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO), Japan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs—the Western Pacific was declared free of polio. This was the cumulative result of efforts by the WHO, UNICEF, and other international organizations to promote “National Immunization Days” (NIDs) and of the provision of the polio vaccine by donor countries, including Japan. Developing countries and civil society also worked in partnership to promote polio immunization within the community.

The Kyushu-Okinawa Summit has led to strengthened initiatives by the international community and to an expanded discussion of infectious diseases at subsequent international meetings, including “the African Summit on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Other Infectious Diseases” (Nigeria) in April 2001, the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS in June 2001, and the G8 Summit in Genoa in July 2001. The special session of the General Assembly was especially significant, since it provided increased impetus for the early establishment of a fund to control infectious diseases. At the G8 Genoa Summit, the UN secretary-general and the leaders of the G8 nations announced the establishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. Japan has played a leading role in this area, and it intends to strengthen its support, including a $200 million donation to the fund, which was established in January 2002.

### SECTION 3. CONFLICT PREVENTION AND PEACE BUILDING: TOWARDS PEACE

Since the end of the Cold War, conflicts based on ethnic or religious differences have come to the fore, resulting in the proliferation of conflicts within as well as between nations. Many of these conflicts have occurred in developing countries, especially in Africa.

Armed conflict affects Japan’s own security and prosperity, which rely on the existence of peace and prosperity in the international community. It also presents a serious threat to “human security,” which is a key focus of
HIV/AIDS has spread in recent years to all parts of the world, and ASEAN is no exception; at the end of 1999 approximately 1.8 million people in the region were infected by the virus. This situation is reflected in a shared and growing awareness among ASEAN members that no single country can respond adequately to the problem of infectious diseases and that a regional response is needed. A networked response to infectious diseases has been developed within the APEC framework. However, efforts to prevent the spread of infectious diseases in Southeast Asia as a whole will not be effective unless such efforts also include the non-APEC members of ASEAN.

This situation prompted the announcement by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of the “JAPAN-ASEAN Information and Human Network for Infectious Disease Control” concept at the seventh ASEAN Summit, held in Brunei in November 2001.

The aim of this concept is to provide support for training and capacity development in the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases—especially HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria—in the ASEAN region and for the creation of a human resources network to facilitate cooperation within ASEAN. Another goal is to build an information network using public health facilities—which Japan already supports—as centers.

Forms of support under consideration include the establishment of tuberculosis centers and other facilities in the Philippines that could provide third country training and host workshops and the development of an information network on action against parasitic diseases, including malaria, with Thailand as its core. To enhance the effectiveness of these types of cooperation in ASEAN, it is anticipated that support activities will be implemented under an expanded partnership with international health agencies, such as the WHO and the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
Japan’s foreign policy. The advance of globalization has reinforced the interdependence of the international community, and nations can no longer regard conflicts in geographically remote regions as problems that do not affect them directly. Conflict prevention and resolution and postconflict peace building require an integrated approach covering political, security, and military aspects. Development assistance can be an important part of a comprehensive response to a conflict. The 2000 G8 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Miyazaki, Japan, announced “the G8 Miyazaki Initiatives for Conflict Prevention” aimed at providing a comprehensive response to conflict prevention. Japan took this opportunity to announce “the Action from Japan” initiative, which was a package of undertakings on conflict prevention through development cooperation. This section introduces recent efforts based on this initiative.

## (I) Cooperation in Conflict Prevention

Once a conflict occurs, it will quickly destroy the achievements of previous development ef-
### Chart 3. Japan’s Mine-Related Disbursements

I. MINE CLEARANCE (INCLUDING SUPPORT FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF MINE ACTION CENTERS AND OTHER GENERAL PROJECTS)
A. Contributions to international organizations
(1) UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Action (support for the activities of international organizations, such as the UNDP, via the trust fund)
(2) Cambodia Mine Action Center (via the UNDP)
(3) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to Afghanistan
(4) Other aid
B. Bilateral aid
C. Grant assistance for grassroots projects
D. Other aid

2. VICTIM SUPPORT
A. Contributions to international organizations
(1) UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Action (support for the activities of international organizations, such as UNICEF, via the trust fund)
(2) International Committee of the Red Cross and local ICRC offices
B. Bilateral aid
C. NGO project subsidies
D. Grant assistance for grassroots projects
E. Other aid

3. SUPPORT FOR MINE EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
A. Contributions to international organizations
(1) UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Action (support for the activities of international organizations, such as UNICEF, via the trust fund)
(2) Other agencies
B. NGO project subsidies
C. Grant assistance for grassroots projects

4. GENERAL SUPPORT FOR MINE ACTION (ACTIVITIES SPANNING THE THREE PREVIOUS CATEGORIES)
A. Contributions to international organizations
(1) Organization of American States
(2) Other agencies
B. Other aid

5. OTHER AID (INCLUDING SUPPORT FOR INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES)
A. Contributions to international organizations
(1) UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Action
(2) Other agencies
B. Grant assistance for grassroots projects
C. Other aid

Total
Subtotal

(1) $ million
57.87
42.59
11.25
9.60
18.54
3.20
10.18
4.74
0.38
6.59
4.10
1.63
2.47
0.93
0.59
0.86
0.11
0.97
0.82
0.81
0.01
0.09
0.06
1.75
1.38
0.38
1.00
0.37
1.94
1.20
0.65
0.55
0.01
0.73
Cumulative total (as of December 31, 2001)
69.14
turning to their homes or resettling in other areas. They also frustrate efforts to develop agriculture and other activities. At the signing ceremony for “the Total Ban Treaty on Anti-Personnel Mines,” Japan’s then Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi announced a comprehensive approach, the “Zero Victim Program,” to seek a universal and effective ban on antipersonnel mines and additional support for victims. Japan’s current target is to provide approximately ¥10 billion in mine-related assistance over a five-year period starting in 1998. It is providing assistance in a wide range of areas, including mine clearance and victim support and rehabilitation. $ ^{17} $ As part of the “Zero Victim Program,” Japan decided in January 2002 to donate 19.22 million to the UNDP, OCHA, and ICRC for use in mine clearance and support for mine victims in Afghanistan, where mines are seriously impeding reconstruction and development efforts.

Like antipersonnel mines, handguns, automatic rifles, and other small firearms are easy to manufacture and procure and are simple to use. These characteristics play a major role in the escalation, recurrence, and prolongation of armed conflict. The international community needs to strive to prohibit the illegal production and trading of small firearms and to ensure that they are confiscated promptly as soon as conflicts end. At the Kyushu-Okinawa Summit in July 2000, Japan announced that it would donate up to $2 million for the establishment of a Small Arms Fund within the UN to enable steps to deal with the problem of small firearms. Japan has so far donated $1.87 million to support related initiatives, including seminars on and projects to seize small arms. Japan has called the world’s attention to the small arms issue through “the G8 Miyazaki Initiatives for Conflict Prevention” and through resolutions of the UN General Assembly. It played an active role in a July 2001 UN conference on small arms. The report presented to this conference was based on the findings of a UN panel chaired by Mitsuro Donowaki, special assistant to Japan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs. Japan is also implementing grant aid for a grassroots project called “Weapons for Development.” Under this project, local communities in Cambodia collect and destroy small arms in exchange for assistance with the development of basic infrastructure, such as schools and local roads. Japan intends to expand this project in the future.
“Human security” is a concept that calls for the removal of various threats to human survival, livelihood, and dignity so that individuals can lead meaningful lives that are free and creative. Today human security is threatened by an array of problems, including poverty, environmental degradation, conflict, antipersonnel mines, exodus of refugees, drugs, and infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS. Governments, international organizations, and civil society should work together to protect individuals from these threats.

Human security was clearly identified as a key aspect of Japanese foreign policy in a policy speech entitled “Toward the Creation of a Bright Future for Asia,” presented by then Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi in Hanoi in December 1998, and in a speech by then Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori at the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000. At an International Symposium on Human Security in December 2001, lively discussions were held on actions taken by the international community in response to threats to human security, using Afghanistan as a case study.

In January 2001, moreover, a “Commission on Human Security” was established based on a Japanese proposal. The commission, comprising 12 internationally prominent intellectuals, is co-chaired by Sadako Ogata, former UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and Professor Amartya Sen, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge University. Its tasks are to deepen the concept of human security and to make recommendations that could serve as concrete action guidelines for the international community.

In March 1999 Japan established the “Trust Fund for Human Security” within the UN. Its purpose is to provide support for projects that directly benefit people affected by threats to human security and for projects that empower people to overcome these threats and become independent. Japan made an initial contribution of approximately ¥500 million in 1999, and by 2001 it had contributed approximately ¥18.8 billion.

Recent projects supported by the fund include the “Phnom Penh–local partnership for urban poverty reduction,” aimed at improving the living environment in the slums, the “Response to Drought Emergency” in Kenya, implementing the distribution of supplementary food to infants and pregnant women and provision of training for health workers, and projects against infectious diseases in Oceania, with particular emphasis on reproductive health education and provision of contraceptives and medical equipment.