2024 Volume 33 Issue 1 Pages 75-87
The author has been concerned in the decision-making and revisions of the ODA Charter or Development Cooperation Charter (hereafter referred to as the Charter) as a member of the international cooperation NGO community in Japan. In particular, at the time of the 2015 revision, I participated as an NGO member in the Expert Advisory Panel. In light of this, the author has summarized here the ways in which NGOs were involved in the revisions of this outline, the arguments they made, and the results of those arguments.
Specifically, Section 1 looks back at the background and history of the past calls by citizens, NGOs, and opposition parties for a basic law rather than the Charter, and asks whether the current status quo of the Charter is sufficient.
Section 2 reviews the revision processes of the Charter, which has been conducted three times so far, and summarizes how NGOs should be involved and what improvements are required.
In section 3, the author looks back on the Expert Advisory Panel in 2002, which he participated in as the NGO member, and the several points that he particularly emphasized. I strongly urged a need for change so that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and related agencies, which handle ODA with an emphasis on economic growth, will firmly recognize the importance and value of social and human development.
The subsequent section 4 presents the main issues raised by the NGO side in this revision process. There is a need for change so that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and related agencies, which handle ODA with an emphasis on economic growth, will firmly recognize the importance and value of social and human development In the final section, Section 5, the author reviewed the historical background against which the NGOs'previous arguments have been formed and the historical background at the time of the recent revision, and confirmed the appropriateness of these arguments and the need to revise their wording and other aspects.
