### 2. Increasing Public Participation

## (1) The Importance of Encouraging the Understanding and Support of the People

ODA is indispensable for Japan’s diplomacy; under the current severe economic and financial circumstances, gaining support for an increase in ODA is impossible unless the significance of development assistance is adequately explained. The importance of gaining understanding and support of the people is also emphasized in the ODA Review Final Report released in 2010.

From this standpoint, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and JICA provide Japanese citizens with a variety of opportunities to participate directly in the actual process of development assistance and to experience ODA sites on the ground where ODA projects are implemented. Public participation is enhanced at a variety of levels in a variety of ways, which includes; encouraging discussions and dialogues regarding development assistance, promoting development education, publishing information regarding the current state of development assistance, and introducing and communication of such activities to a wide audience including those in local cities and various groups of people and organizations. At the same time, it is recognized that development of human resources and developmental research are important tools to appropriately respond to the diversifying and increasing complexity of development issues. It is also important to promote an understanding of Japanese philosophy regarding development assistance in the international community; meanwhile the importance of collaborating with researchers has grown.

Further, it is also very important, in implementing ODA projects to make efforts for the people in recipient countries to understand Japan's assistance, and Japan enhances local public relations in collaboration between overseas diplomatic missions and local JICA offices.

## (2) Direct Participation in Assistance to Developing Countries by Citizens from All Walks of Life

JICA implements the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) and Senior Volunteers programs to promote the participation in international cooperation by young people and a broad spectrum of Japanese citizens who have a variety of experiences. JOCV is a public-participation program that dispatches young Japanese aged between 20 and 39 to developing countries for two years, to assist the socio-economic development of those countries while living and working with the local. JOCV has a history of nearly half a century, and is an example of Japan's "Visibility of Japanese Aid" that has received high praise overseas over the years. Senior Volunteers, the corresponding JOCV program for elder participants (aged between 40 and 69) who possess a wide range of skills and abundant experience, is a public-participation program; through the program, the Japanese government supports the activities of people who are willing to assist the development of partner countries on a volunteer basis.

The most familiar examples of citizen participation in international cooperation are support for NGOs that engage in international cooperation and participation in those activities. The number of Japanese NGOs increased significantly after the Act on Promotion of Specified Non-profit Activities (the NPO Act) was enacted and legal preparations were made in 1998. The actual number of organizations involved in international cooperation is said to be approximately 400. Japanese NGOs are expected to expand the scope of ODA and develop highly-capable human resources in the field of international cooperation as a practitioner of “Visibility of Japanese Aid.”

A Senior Volunteer provides instruction on nutrition to indigenous Ecuadorians (Photo: Yumiko Goto)

Physical therapists of Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer making rounds in Papua New Guinea (Photo: Masaki Haraguchi)