Publication of “State-Managed International Voluntary Service: The Case of Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers”

In October 2024, the JICA Ogata Sadako Research Institute for Peace and Development published a book titled, “State-Managed International Voluntary Service: The Case of Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers ,” resulting from the Institute’s research project “Contributions of International Volunteers in Bringing Change to Developing Countries and Shaping a Global Civil Society.”

This book addresses the contributions made by Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCVs), discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the JOCV program, and proposes the concept of state-managed international voluntary services (SMIVS). The book argues that owing to state management JOCVs can affect both downstream and upstream benefits, while state management gives JOCVs advantages and disadvantages.

The editor of this book, Visiting Fellow Okabe Yasunobu (professor at Tohoku University) says, “This is probably the first academic book written in English on the subject of JOCVs. Their activities are still not well known in the world, except in Japan and some countries in the Global South, and academic research on the subject is not well developed. I hope that this book will arouse the interest of the readers around the world in the volunteer activities of the JOCVs and the development issues they have faced.”