### 2. Japan's Medium-Term ODA Policy

The Medium-Term Policy on Official Development Assistance details Japan’s positions, approaches, and specific actions centering on giving practical mapping to the ODA Charter. The latest revision took place in February 2005, listing specific items to be addressed under the three categories of (1) “perspective of human security”; (2) important issues of “poverty reduction,” “sustainable growth,” “addressing global issues,” and “peace-building”; and (3) “measures to ensure the efficient and effective implementation of assistance.”

### 3. Country Assistance Programs

Country Assistance Programs set out Japan's country assistance policy for next five years or so, based on the current status and major challenges of the recipient country and its developmental plans. It also outlines the significance of Japan's assistance to that country, the direction in which Japan should aim, and priority areas. Target countries are selected based on such factors as the volume of assistance, relevance to global developmental issues, regional balance, aid coordination, and strategic importance. These programs take into consideration opinions from the country-based ODA Task Force comprised of the Japanese diplomatic missions and JICA overseas offices in target countries.

### 4. Sector-Specific Development Policies

Japan formulates Sector-Specific Development Initiatives in order to strategically implement sector-specific assistance (Note 5) including health, education, water and sanitation, and environment based on the discussions in the international community. More specifically reflecting these policies in the formation of ODA projects, Japan implements assistance that is genuinely favorable to the recipient countries in the medium to long-term. Sector-specific development policies also play an important role to promote discussions in the international arena. Formulating sector-specific development policies in addition to the ODA Charter, Medium-Term ODA Policy, and Country Assistance Plans, further clarifies Japan's guiding principles of ODA and enhances the transparency of ODA.

### 5. Priority Policy Issues for International Cooperation

Priority policy issues for international cooperation have been formulated each fiscal year since FY2007. They aim at clarifying and introducing priority matters in the formulation of projects in order to promptly respond to the progress of Japan's foreign policy and newly emerging development issues.

For FY2008, Japan set the following items as priority issues, taking into account its expected leadership in hosting and engaging in follow up work of the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV) and the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit in 2008 and follow-up works, and taking the opportunity of an intermediate year of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which have an achievement deadline of 2015:

(1) Supporting developing countries in regard to environmental and climate change problems,

(2) Supporting developing countries in regard to the problem of rising food prices

(3) Building, consolidating, and restoring peace

(4) Promoting economic growth in developing countries and economic prosperity in Japan

(5) Establishing human security and supporting the achievement of the MDGs from this perspective.

### 6. Rolling Plans

A “Rolling Plan” is a document made for each recipient country of Japan’s ODA, to outline an overall picture of Japan’s assistance to the country. In a Rolling Plan, basically all ongoing ODA projects are listed and classified according to country-specific priority areas, development issues, and programs. By utilizing this Rolling Plan, it is aimed to better employ different development assistance schemes (technical cooperation, grant aid, ODA loans, cooperation through international organizations, etc.) in an integrated manner when designing, planning, and implementing ODA projects. Japan shares Rolling Plans with its recipient countries with a view to further improving aid predictability.