cooperative relationships, improving skills, and contributing to the proper and smooth administration of immigration across Southeast Asian and other countries and regions. In FY2007, Japan held seminars on document examination among examiners of immigration control authorities, which have taken place annually since 1995, thereby exchanging opinion on document examination skills and sharing information on trends in document forgery and other issues.

### 4. Peacebuilding

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Since the end of the Cold War, the international community has confronted numerous regional and internal/intrastate conflicts arising from ethnic, religious, or historical differences. The majority of victims who suffer from such conflicts are civilians including children. Such conflicts also generate a great number of refugees and internally displaced persons and easily become humanitarian and human rights issues. Moreover, such conflicts destroy many achievements gained through years of development efforts and cause massive economic loss, and thus should be avoided. Peace and stability are prerequisites to development and growth.

In consideration of the report by then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the UN General Assembly and the Security Council jointly adopted a resolution to establish the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) in 2005. The PBC has been conducting its activities with the purpose of advising on and proposing integrated strategies for post-conflict peacebuilding and recovery based on a consistent approach, beginning with resolution of conflicts and continuing to recovery, reconstruction, and nation-building.

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Japan lists peacebuilding as one of its priority issues in the ODA Charter and in Japan’s Medium-Term Policy on ODA, aiming at providing seamless assistance in its process to ensure peace and stability. Specifically, Japan provides assistance, beginning with refugee assistance and food aid in times of conflict and continuing with assistance in the area of the peace process, such as election assistance, toward resolving conflicts. Additionally, assistance is provided to ensure domestic security and safety following the resolution of conflicts, with the aim of consolidating peace. This assistance includes the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) of former soldiers and reconstruction efforts in the security sector. At the same time, the road to national reconstruction is paved by pushing efforts for returning refugees and internally displaced persons and resettling them, as well as by restoring basic infrastructure. Furthermore, aiming for national, economic, and social reconstruction in order to establish consolidated peace and prevent the rise of future conflicts, efforts are made in the social sector such as in health and education, as well as toward improving economic infrastructure, and strengthening governmental, judicial, and police functions. Japan combines assistance provided via multilateral organizations with bilateral assistance, such as grant aid, technical cooperation, and loan aid, in order to provide this type of seamless assistance. In FY2007, Japan extended the Grant Aid for Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding to Indonesia for the revitalization of conflict-devastated areas in Aceh. In that cooperation, Japan offered training, counseling and assistance to aid plan formulation through the International Organization for Migration (IOM) by utilizing existing information, counseling and job placement service centers. At Naher El Bared refugee camp, a Palestine refugee camp in north Lebanon, Japan helped construct shelter housings and prefabricated schoolhouses for improvement in returning refugee’s living environments and capacity building of local communities through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). $ ^{64} $

Besides these, Japan has thus far taken specific measures for peacebuilding in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Kosovo, Timor-Leste, Nepal, and others, and continue to address this issue actively by using official development assistance.

As a manifestation of the appreciation for Japan’s overall efforts in the area of peacebuilding, Japan was elected as the chair of the PBC in June 2007. During the tenure of the chair until December 2008, Japan made efforts for the activities of the PBC to be strengthened and well established by making closer ties with the Security Council and the General Assembly of the United Nations and other relevant organizations, calling for international attention and support to be given to the PBC’s activities and its target countries.

## Human Resource Development for Peacebuilding

Responding to needs from the scene of peacebuilding becoming more diverse and complex, Japan launched the