“Kokusai Kyoryoku Newspaper” published each month

registered (as of April 2008).

MOFA also issues the Kokusai Kyoryoku Newspaper (International Cooperation Newspaper) that contains the latest information regarding international cooperation on a monthly basis. The newspapers are distributed to educational institutions, libraries, and similar locations around the country.

## Dialogue with the Public

As part of efforts to promote dialogue with the public, symposiums named “Kokusai Kyoryoku ni Tsuite Kataro (Let’s talk about International Cooperation)” are held twice per year (in Tokyo and Osaka) to inform the public about trends relating to ODA and introduce Japanese efforts. At these symposiums, with a goal of listening directly to the opinions of the general public, question and answer sessions relating to development assistance are held between experts, staff members of MOfA, and the general public.

As a more flexible way to promote dialogue with the public, MOFA began the ODA On-Demand-Delivery Lecture in 2005. In the lecture series, personnel from the International Cooperation Bureau of MOFA visit junior and senior high schools, universities, local governments, NGOs, and similar venues to describe various topics on international cooperation. The lecture series has now been held 40 times (as of March 2008).

## ☑ ODA Citizen Monitoring Program

The ODA Citizen Monitoring Program, commenced in 1999, is a project that enables the general public who are interested in international cooperation opportunities to visit actual ODA project sites and observe Japan’s ODA projects firsthand in developing countries. Through this

Participants working as monitors, inspecting work training of local residents (Honduras) (Source: APIC)

program, participants can deepen the understanding of the significance and importance of international cooperation, as seeing the projects in developing countries with their own eyes. It can promote Japan’s ODA and international cooperation via the opinions and reports by the participants. By FY2007 a total of 704 monitors had viewed 479 ODA project sites in 28 developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Participants have reported, for example, that they have deepened their understanding of the role that ODA plays in the development and stability of developing countries and of the need for such assistance. $ ^{15} $ Even more, some of the participants decided to take part in international cooperation such as becoming a member of JOCV and Senior Volunteers, as highly motivated by the observance during the monitoring program.

## Television Programs for Public Relations in Japan

Since FY1997, a series of regular programs have been televised for promoting the understanding of international cooperation to the general public. Using footage showing Japanese people and local inhabitants working hard in developing countries, they introduce to viewers the conditions that exist in developing countries and the need for assistance, along with the implementation and results of projects.

In 2007, four-minute programs called “Chikyu Supporter by Tomohiro Sekiguchi” were televised on TV Tokyo. With Tomohiro Sekiguchi as presenter, the programs featured Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Ghana, China, Brazil, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. The average viewing figures reached 5.4%. Due to the great number of requests received, an omnibus edition was broadcast nationwide on satellite.