and improving welfare in developing countries.

Japan has also been focusing energy on providing technical cooperation for fostering the human resources that will lead in nation-building in developing countries. In terms of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-based operations alone, a total of approximately 70,000 experts and more than 25,000 Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) have been dispatched from Japan to a total of 166 countries and regions throughout the world from 1954 to 2003. Furthermore, approximately 27,500 trainees from 176 countries and regions have been accepted to Japan for technical instruction. Through programs such as these, Japan has greatly contributed to human resource development and nation-building of developing countries. The many cases of grassroots cooperation conducted for the fields pertaining to people's basic lifestyle of health care, sanitation and education while entering regional villages in developing countries and coming into direct contact with the local residents are included in such human contribution.

The following cases are examples of the accomplishments of such cooperation. The first examples are King Mongkut's Institute of Technology, Ladkrabang (KMITL) in Thailand and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) in Kenya (at present, both universities are core institution for South-South cooperation). They were vocational training institutes of developing countries established by Japanese assistance, which have each, as a result of cooperation provided over several decades, become leading universities in their given countries and produced a large number of human resources necessary for the development of those countries. The second are Japan's international training courses on tuberculosis, international training and seminars for criminal justice, and international training on seismology and earthquake engineering. International training courses on tuberculosis are carried out as a measure to combat tuberculosis, with which one-third of the world's population is said to be infected. It has been provided for more than 1,800 people in 91 countries over the past 40 or more years and has contributed to developing leading experts in given countries and to building networks. International training and seminars for criminal justice have been implemented for 3,320 people from 107 countries over the past 40 or more years. They have produced from among those who have completed the training a minister of justice and a supreme court chief justice. International training on seismology and earthquake engineering is carried out to reduce and prevent damage from earthquake disasters. It has been implemented for 1,195 people from 92 countries over the past 40 or more years. It has produced from among those who have completed the training a minister of marine development, several heads of research institutes and university professors. The third is cooperation for the Cairo University Pediatric Hospital, which is related to establishing a medical care system for children in Egypt. The fourth are activities such as those of the JOCV in Bangladesh, extending from efforts from spreading new varieties and agricultural technologies in rural areas in developing countries to then enabling the distribution of the vegetables bearing the JOCV name.

Japan's involvement goes beyond bilateral provision of assistance. It also plays a major role in assistance through international organizations. Japan started funding to international organizations, such as the United Nations (UN) and other organizations in the 1950s, and it has contributed to many organizations' policy-making and management as a council member in those organizations. At present, Japan is the largest contributor in international organizations including the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Asian Productivity Organization (APO), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the African Development Fund (AfDF). In addition, it is the second-largest contributor to the United Nations itself, the World Bank, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Furthermore, Japan has been active not only in the aspect of fund provision but also in terms of human contribution. As of July 2004, Koichiro Matsuura is Director General of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Yoshio Utsumi is Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Tadao Chino is President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Takashi Tajima is Secretary General of the APO, Sukehiro Hasegawa is Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for the United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET), and Toshiyuki Niwa is Deputy Executive Director of the United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF). Past examples include Sadako Ogata, former U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Yasushi Akashi, who has held positions such as SRSG for the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), SRSG for the Former Yugoslavia, and Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs at the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs, and Hiroshi Nakajima, former Director General of the WHO. Meanwhile, Japan dispatches many capable young people to international organizations every year in positions such as