SOCIAL SUMMIT: Japanese NGOs Want Action, Not Words from theirGovt.

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Mar 13 1995 (IPS) - Japan has expressed its support for global efforts to improve the quality of life in developing countries, but non-governmental organisations (NGOs) here say Tokyo must back up pledges made in Copenhagen with concrete action.

One Foreign Ministry official said the Japanese government supports this week’s U.N. World Conference on Social Development in Copenhagen, which seeks to “improve the quality of development aid for the betterment of society as a whole”.

But Japanese NGOs say such statements are part of Tokyo’s bid to project an image of a government that is always ready to support social justice.

“But we want the government to go further by taking concrete steps to improve its development aid programme,” says Shunsuke Iwakasi of the Japanese NGO “2001”.

Iwasaki’s group is one of three NGOs included in Japan’s official delegation to Copenhagen, a welcome decision by the government, which has only recently begun consulting with private organisations involved with development aid.

As the world’s largest donor nation, NGOs say Japan must take the lead in improving the level and quality of aid to developing countries.

Japan contributed one-fifth of the total development assistance granted by industrialised countries in 1993, but its aid makes up only 0.3 percent of its GNP — way below the 0.7 percent of GNP level set for rich nations.

Academics, lawyers and aid workers have been urging Tokyo to improve its aid programme through debt relief for poor nations and support for the improvement of social institutions in recipient countries.

They say Japan’s aid programme puts too much emphasis on traditional infrastructure projects like roads, buildings and power plants, rather than addressing social needs like education and health. And most of the aid is in the form of loans instead of grants, they add.

The Foreign Ministry official said Japan is ready to pledge its cooperation, but would not be announcing any concrete measures or new aid targets at the Social Summit.

Reiko Inoue of the Pacific Asia Resources Centre, another NGO included in the official delegation, says Japan’s reluctance to take concrete action in Copenhagen reflects its failure to address the needs of its own people.