TANAKA Akihiko

Top officials of JICA and the World Bank agreed to broaden and deepen their cooperation at their second high-level dialogue from July 26 to 28 at the headquarters of the World Bank in Washington, D.C.

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, left, and JICA President Akihiko Tanaka
(Photo courtesy of the World Bank)

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, JICA President Akihiko Tanaka and others participated in the Executive Session on the first day. They confirmed the concrete progress of the partnership as discussed during the first high-level dialogue in July of last year and had a lively discussion on the future direction of their cooperation in three regions and one sector (Southeast Asia and Pacific, South Asia, Africa and health (universal health coverage*1)). On the second day, the participants split up into four sessions and held more detailed discussions based on the previous day’s.

As a result of this series of discussions, they agreed to strengthen their cooperation in the field of disaster risk reduction and management based on the experience of disaster risk finance in the Philippines. They also agreed to implement emergency housing reconstruction in post-quake Nepal as quickly and harmoniously as possible and to advance their partnership in such sectors as energy, regional transportation infrastructure links, agriculture and universal health coverage in Sub Sahara Africa, with the 6th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI), to be held in 2016, in mind.

Many other members of the World Bank Group participated in the discussions in addition to Kim: Kyle Peters, Senior Vice President for Operations; Cyril Muller, Vice President for International Affairs and Europe and Central Asia; Makhtar Diop, Vice President for Africa; Annette Dixon, Vice President for South Asia; Keith Hansen, Vice President for Human Development; Tim Evans, Senior Director for Health Nutrition and Population Global Practice, among others. About 20 JICA personnel participated in addition to Tanaka, including Vice President Kiyoshi Kodera, Vice President Hiroshi Kato and Vice President Kae Yanagisawa.

On the third day, at a seminar for the World Bank Group’s Executive Directors, Tanaka gave a lecture on JICA’s seamless assistance from disaster to reconstruction . He explained how JICA has been carrying out seamless assistance in the Philippines and Nepal based on the concept of Build Back Better*2, the importance of which was widely recognized at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai, Japan, in March. Tanaka presented that there are three kinds of gaps in assistance for disaster recovery in developing countries — timing , instruments and financing — and he discussed with Executive Directors from various countries how JICA, the World Bank and the international community can cooperate to overcome these gaps.

The two agencies will continue to hold regular discussions at various levels to strengthen their partnership.

*1 Universal health coverage refers to a situation in which all people can receive the health care services they need at a price they can afford.

*2 Carrying out reconstruction that prepares for future disasters, including reconstruction projects that incorporate the viewpoints of legal revisions and disaster risk reduction, based on the lessons of past disasters. One of four priorities for action under the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. The policies Japan has carried out after reconstruction have also been based on this concept. Japan has advocated Build Back Better more than previously as an important disaster risk reduction action to take along with seamless assistance as it moved toward adoption of this framework.