JAPAN: NGOs Bask Under Belated Attention (1) An Inter Press Service Feature

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Nov 25 1994 (IPS) - Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Japan had resigned themselves to blending with the background as they beavered away, but their years of being ignored both by the Japanese public and the government seem about to end.

These days, NGOs report a rush to their membership registration tables as well as a spurt in the number of invitations to host alternative education seminars.

“Most of all,” says Makiko Mizuno of the World Wild Life Fund for Nature (WWF), Japan, “the Japanese government is treating us with respect, a major step for non-profit groups like us that have been forced to stay in the sidelines in Japanese society.”

Last year, for example, the Japan’s massive overseas development aid (ODA) budget pledged a slight increase — close to one percent — to local NGOs and their counterparts in developing countries.

The Japanese government also set a precedent during the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo two months ago when it invited the People’s Forum 2001 and another women’s group dealing with reproductive rights to be part of an official delegation to the meeting.

In a nation where NGOs have yet to be offered the perks enjoyed by their Western counterparts, such as tax breaks and non-profit status, the latest moves by Tokyo are heartening.

“There is no doubt the old image — as irresponsible activist groups — is fast eroding,” comments Makoto Iwai, head of Amnesty International, Japan chapter.

There are about 300 NGOs in Japan, most of them focusing on green issues. The majority are managed by female volunteers.

Most Japanese NGOs point to the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, which brought important governments and NGOs together to work toward solving global environmental issues, as the turning point of sorts for grassroots organisations in Asia’s most economically advanced nation.

But Tsuane Shida of Greenpeace Japan also thinks Japan’s push into the international limelight helped focus local attention on the NGOs.

“The Japanese want to learn more about how their money can help the world,” she says. “And as reports show how environmental destruction in the Third World has been created by Japanese companies, the public feel NGOs can help to stop this.”