ODA reform/UN reform/Advocating for disarmament

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Program background

Despite over 50 years of development aid, it does not seem that any progress has been made towards improving the violent structure of society in terms of the great gap between the world's rich and poor.

As if that was not enough, the failure of Middle Eastern security reforms in Afghanistan and Iraq further adds to the complexity of the situation. And meanwhile countries such as the Philippines and Bangladesh, acting under the premise of fighting the "War on Terror", have started to worsen Asia's record on human rights abuse. In Africa, on the one hand economic dynamism is starting to take off, but on the other hand, there are many issues relating to chronic poverty and problems of governance which must first be overcome.

Aid programs must be based on the voices and opinions of the people who should be receiving it - in other words, people who are suffering as a result of conflict or excessive development. JVC is conducting advocacy that calls for the construction of a totally new international cooperation system in terms of ODA, the UN and the military. In this work, we stand alongside people who endure meaningless suffering as a result of the "War on Terror" and the current social system of neoliberal economics.

Summary of activities

1. Advocacy towards ODA reform

In 2006, JVC conveyed the issues that it had di-rectly witnessed at ground level such as the forced relocation of villages during the construction of a dam in Laos to the Japanese government, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Also, we used those debates as a base on which to lobby the new JICA for reforms, working through various platforms for debate on ODA reform (such as public symposiums and the regular ODA policy dialogue between NGOs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs).

2. Advocacy towards UN reform

JVC believes that in the context of today's society, the UN as an organisation does not show adequate legitimacy or transparency in working together with civil society to tackle international problems. Hence we believe that there are various concrete reforms that are necessary.

The "Public Forum on UN Reform" that was started in summer 2005 has continued to take place on a twiceyearly basis. This forum serves to widen the debate and add a new flavour to the issue by bringing in participants such as private companies. In 2007 we plan to take "Global warming and the global environment" as our theme and hold debates on various issues such as policy on nuclear power, the rights of indigenous people, and natural resource management. In the future, we plan to continue these public forums, not only focusing on the framework of "development", but also making links with NGOs that work in the fields of "peace" and "human rights" in order to unite the movement for UN reform and eliminate human insecurity.

3. Advocacy towards a reappraisal of "humanitarian aid by the military"

Japan spent a huge amount of funds to dispatch the Self Defence Forces to Iraq in the name of carrying out "reconstruction assistance". The trend towards humanitarian aid being carried out by the military started in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, and is now growing in every region. In the future, ways of conducting humanitarian aid will be greatly impacted by the introduction of armed forces carrying out humanitarian aid that should be being undertaken by people in a neutral position.

The Japanese government is working towards ex-panding the range of activities that the Self Defence Forces can carry out overseas. However, we believe that it is necessary to international peacebuilding efforts based on nonmilitary principles and ideals. Throughout 2006 and following on in 2007, JVC has been and continues to work with NGOs and the public in various ways conducting advocacy, issuing statements, holding symposiums and publishing pa-pers in order to call on the government to reap-praise its policy on these issues.