Medium-Term Policy on ODA. As a result, the Medium-Term Policy was evaluated as basically consistent with the ODA Charter of 1992 and with the development needs of the international community, reflected in sector-specific and country-specific assistance policies, and maintaining a coordination and verification system as a whole. In addition, the following recommendations were made from a broad viewpoint based on these results and recent trends in aid.

The following recommendations were made in terms of the Medium-Term Policy on ODA as a whole. (1) Since the ODA Charter was revised in such a manner that incorporates the contents of the Medium-Term Policy and now contains more specific details, it is necessary to redefine the status and role of the next Medium-Term Policy; (2) A result-oriented approach should be emphasized and evaluation results should be used to improve policy; (3) To prevent the dispersion of resources invested, a mechanism enabling "selection and concentration" should be incorporated; and (4) The next Medium-Term Policy on ODA should refer to efforts for Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and set common goals with other countries and organizations.

With respect to the priority issues, it was recommended that future initiatives should basically pursue the concretization of the next Medium-Term Policy and, in terms of the contents of the priority issues, that consideration should be given to support for economic infrastructure, peace-building, gender issues and disaster relief. It was also recommended that a "regional approach" become important for region-specific assistance, along with the intensification of political and economic exchange on a regional level.

With respect to methods of assistance and points to be noted in implementation and operation of assistance, recommendations were made concerning collaboration with NGOs, partnership with other donors and organizations, and collaboration among domestic organizations. For the next Medium-Term Policy, emphasis was placed on the strengthening of information disclosure, training of development personnel, and strengthening of the functions of field missions.

In response to the formulation of the new ODA Charter in 2003, the government is now studying the formulation of a new Medium-Term Policy in line with the results of the above evaluation.

## Revision of JICA Guidelines for Environmental and Social Considerations

The revised ODA Charter stipulates that sufficient attention shall be paid to the impact of the implementation of ODA on the environment and society of developing countries and that fairness shall be assured. JICA had already introduced the JICA Environmental Consideration Guidelines since 1990 in line with the proposal of the first Sectoral Study Group on Development Assistance on Environment in 1988. However, JICA revised the Guidelines for Environmental and Social Considerations in March 2004 on the basis of experience in the subsequent 10 years, preparation of the basic policy for environmental and social considerations concerning JICA's projects, the necessity of expanding the scope subject to the guidelines and establishing a system to ensure compliance with the guidelines, Japan's policy of strengthening environmental and social considerations as represented by the revision of the ODA Charter, and movements toward information disclosure, etc.

In revising the Guidelines for Environmental and Social Considerations, JICA made efforts to reflect various opinions in all sectors in the country. The Revising Committee was established in December 2002, and a total of 19 committee meetings had been held before September 2003. The committee was composed of university-related personnel, NGOs, and the intellectuals of private bodies in addition to government officials so as to introduce the opinions of a broad range of persons. Moreover, opinions were invited from the general public by disclosing the draft guidelines on the website as well as by holding a total of five public consultations.

Through such preparation process, the new Guidelines for Environmental and Social Considerations were put into force on April 1, 2004. The revised guidelines stipulate that the basic policy for JICA's environmental and social considerations shall be to support the securing of appropriate environmental and social considerations so as to prevent projects that help the recipient governments to achieve their development goals from having unacceptable serious impact on the environment and regional society by avoiding or minimizing the impact of such projects, and thereby to contribute to the

Conference on the Guidelines for Environmental and Social Considerations (Photo: JICA)