Network Magazine

Mrs. Ogata at an opening ceremony for a water tower in Ethiopia.

Mrs. Ogata stepped into Africa

JICA President, Mrs. Sadako Ogata went on a mission to Kenya, Ethiopia, Senegal and South Africa from April 25 to May 15. On her three-week visit, Mrs. Ogata met heads of states and other national leaders, as well as representatives of donors and international organizations. In these meetings, she reassured Japan's continued commitments to development in Africa and exchanged views on development, peace and security in Africa. While visiting JICA project sites, she eagerly listened to voices in the field, including those of local people, counterparts and JICA experts/volunteers.

As dangers, such as HIV/AIDS and terrorism, transcend borders and become serious threats to the current international community, it is recognized that the security has to be ensured in the level of people themselves, rather than states. While the concept of human security has become more important in development activities, through her field observation in Africa, Mrs. Ogata found that some JICA programs and projects, especially in fields of water, education, health and rural development, had greatly contributed to the advancement of human security. She expects that JICA should further implement programs and projects, putting this concept into practice and strengthening the collaboration with other donors and organizations.

Mrs. Ogata said in her speech at the African Union headquarters, "The people in Africa have suffered human miseries for far too long. But today there are hopeful signs of peace in many parts of Africa. I remain hopeful for the future of Africa, and now is the time to redouble our efforts."

JICA Initiates a Global Talk on Program-Based Approaches in Asia

JICA Initiates a Global Talk on Program-Based Approaches in Asia

From June 1 to 3, 2004, JICA and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) hosted an international forum in Tokyo entitled "Program-Based Approaches (PBAs) in Asia: Adapting to Diversity." One hundred and sixty participants from various international development agencies and partner countries were in attendance.

PBAs are a way of engaging in developmental cooperation based on the principle of coordinated support by stakeholders for a locally-owned development program. The primary objective of the forum was to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and practical experience among the participants. It was also viewed as an opportunity to revisit PBAs as a more diverse concept having participants discuss about PBAs in the Asian context, where demographic characteristics, aid absorption capacity and aid dependency vary greatly.

During the first two days of the conference, there were four case-study presentations and discussions on each of three topics: 1) Institutional Capacity, 2) Scale, and 3) Economic Growth. On the third day, participants had a chance to carry out more indepth discussion in the working groups.

"The discussion could have been dominated by an exchange of 'good practices' and praise for each other's experiences if it had been only among donors. However at this forum, the first of its kind where donors and partners sit face to face, the discussion was based on the perspectives at both ends. Thanks to the active participation by the partner countries, we were able to have intensive and fruitful discussion," says one of the organizers at JICA.

The forum contributed to an increased commitment among the participants to jointly address the current constraints and future possibilities of the PBAs.

As a follow up to this forum, JICA will, as a part of the reform at JICA, further promote setting its own activities following PBAs while it continues to call for the importance of the diversity of the aid modality among the donor community.

Dr. Eknayake
Mudiyanselage Kithsiri Wijeratne - a former training participant turned visiting professor.

A Homecoming of a Former JICA Training Participant

As a JICA training participant, Dr. Eknayake Mudiyanselage Kithsiri Wijeratne from Sri Lanka attended the Institute of Natural Medicine of Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University for one year from 1994 to 1995. Then, he has been working at the University of Arizona (U.S.A) as a research associate since 1999. In April 2004, he was invited back to his former university, but this time as a visiting professor. His mission was twofold: to set up the chemistry and pharmacology database, and to participate in a collaborative research on chemical constituents of Ayurvedic herbal drugs.

"This two-month experience as a visiting professer gave me a good opportunity to start a new collaborative research, which I had wanted to do for some time," says Dr. Wijeratne. "It also gave me opportunities to meet my former professors and colleagues and I had some precious time."