### 2. Increasing Public Participation

## (1) Broad Participation by Japanese Citizens from All Walks of Life

As Japan’s ODA is mainly financed by taxes, sustaining ODA indispensable requires efforts to gain public understanding and support from Japanese citizens toward ODA through promoting public relations and development education. As well, encouraging citizens for wide-ranging participation in international cooperation can expand human resources on international cooperation.

To expand the participation of the Japanese public on the basis of this concept, the government institutionally promotes public involvement in the formulation and implementation of international cooperation at various levels. For example, Country Assistance Programs, drafted with exchanging ideas and opinions with NGOs, the economic sector, and experts, are put up on the MOFA website for public comments to gather views from a wide spectrum.

## Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers and Senior Volunteers

Concerning participation of Japanese citizens from all walks of life in ODA, there are programs like the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) and Senior Volunteers. The JOCV is a citizen-participation instrument which dispatches the youth between the ages of 20 and 39 for two years to volunteer for the people of developing countries, which may lead to assisting social and economic development. JOCV has a long history, spanning more than 40 years, and it is one form of visibility of Japanese aid that has been highly praised overseas. As of June 2007, the cumulative total of dispatched members surpassed 30,000. By the end of FY2007, Japan dispatches 31,371 JOCV to 82 countries.

The corresponding project for seniors is a public participatory project under which the government supports the activities of senior citizens between ages 40 to 69 who possess a wide range of skills and abundant experience and wish to contribute to the development of developing countries on a volunteer basis. Launched as “Senior Cooperation Experts” in FY1990, “Senior Volunteer”, renamed in FY1996, is a volunteering system serving as the senior version of JOCV. By the end of FY2007, a total of 3,373 senior volunteers were dispatched to 56 countries.

To diversify the forms of participation in JOCV and

Shintaro Ito, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, giving a speech to mark the concluding ceremony of the training for the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers and Senior Overseas Volunteers prior to their dispatch (Nihonmatsu, Fukushima)

Senior Volunteer, a system for on-job participation by teachers and short-term dispatches of less than one year were introduced, setting in place an environment which is easier for the people to take part in.

## ● Increasing Civilian Interest in International Cooperation Activities and NGO Activity

As a form of citizen’s participation in international cooperation, one of the most easily accessible areas is supporting and participating in NGOs being active internationally. The number of Japanese NGOs has increased rapidly particularly after enacting the Law to Promote Specified Nonprofit Activities (the “NPO Law”) in 1998. The figure now reaches 34,941 organizations. $ ^{12} $ Of these, it is said that around 400 are engaged in international cooperation activities. As well, the number of people wishing to take part directly in international cooperation projects locally in developing countries has also been rising year by year. Japanese NGOs have found themselves as a receptacle for such people, and they are expected to work in helping to expand ODA application and develop top level human resources in the field of international cooperation. By operating the above activities, Japanese NGOs can be aid entities to transmit Japanese way of thinking in addition to development itself.