Student Network for Human Security (SNHS) Blog

First, there is the not-so-warmhearted outcome of the similar meeting leaded by the EU, and its relation with last September’s report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTD) on economic development in Africa. Lisbon assembly, principally overshadowed because of the situation on Zimbabwe and Mugabe’s presence, had also a bitter overturn around the economic issue. African countries rejected any agreement on Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA), and discourses on partnership and cooperation remained devoid of mechanisms.
The principal argument for such refusal is the fragility of the continent economies, and the UNCTD seems to agree with those. Exploring solutions for the lack of autonomy – and thus, ownership – on policy and resource mobilization, the report recommends states to assume their role as “Developmental States”. That means a state ideologically worried to “ensure sustained economic growth and development on the back of high rates of accumulation, industrialization and structural change”, capable of delivering effective developmental policies and measures thanks to a combination of institutional, technical, administrative and political factors (UNCTD, 2007, pp. 59-60).
This is not a new proposal, neither an easy one, given the amount of conditions and factors required for its success, yet it fits the African continent’s position of protecting themselves and the international community call for ownership. Much should be discussed in order to find out the feasibility of the proposition but, in strict relation with the upcoming events, there is a detail to keep in mind: The term “Developmental State” was coined out of the Japanese experience and, as the first country from the periphery to gain developed status, its position around the proposal is still to be heard.

The second fact is the upcoming transformation of JICA and country’s leadership in Human Security and Peace Building. Scheduled for October, the merge of Japanese Bank for International Cooperation and the Cooperation Agency would position the new JICA as the world's largest bilateral development agency with available financial resources of 8.8 billion dollars and, in the overall, second only to the World Bank. Yet such a title entails some responsibilities.
Japanese ODA has not been well regarded by international observers. Not only budgets keep decreasing, but also its quality has been strongly criticized. In the 2007 Commitment to Development Index developed by Center for Global Development, Washington based think-tank, the country has occupied the last position among twenty one countries, due to the low share of cooperation inside the GDP, tax policy in relation with private charity and the projects’ small scale and proliferation. A recalculation of the index to specifically show the support of world biggest economies to Africa, released this week, again places Japan in the bottom, stressing trade barriers. A similar position to the one DARA’s 2007 Humanitarian Response Index assigned the country – 18 among 23. The reason this time was mainly the product of bad qualification on working with humanitarian partners and implementing international guiding principles. Not to mention yet-to-be-seen results in the commitment for Aid effectiveness such as Paris Declaration, and efforts on transparency in project information and evaluation.

Nevertheless, the potential is as big as the challenge. Japanese commitment on the realization of the Human Security is in line with ongoing reforms of UN and upcoming gatherings of Friends of Human Security - May 15 - followed by the General Assembly thematic debate - on May 22 - would most surely renew the compromise. In the graduation ceremony of peacebuilders’ formation pilot project, last March in Tokyo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Komura stressed the role Japan is engaged to play in supporting peace achievement around the world and renewed Prime Minister Fukuda’s assertion to the diet about making the country “a hub of human resource development as well as for research and intellectual contribution”. The former a well-recognized lack, and the latter a prominent weakness if JICA is to be compared with their peers’ work in knowledge construction.
This is not an isolated phenomenon. Before mentioned, Paris Declaration has pointed out the gap between the proposed and the achieved in international cooperation. The role of China, emergent and re-emergent powers’ international cooperation, has questioned again international community about ethical standards. The U.S. presidential race is not blind to the issue, and structural actions have been already proposed. The whole movement is generating a re-examination of foreign as well as domestic concepts and strategies.
On this direction, less known too, Japan has some new cards to play on the board: revisiting its own development process through the human security perspective is giving the country a new air on which part of the experience is more suitable for cooperation aims. A recent publication in the prestigious medical journal “The Lancet” about the proposal about health systems to be pushed through the G8, underscores the role of Japanese mothers on raising life standards – but, is not the country blamed because of gender issues? Does not this suggest something? Similar analysis are to or have been undertaken about environmental issues, broad public health concerns and consumer protection; all of them barriers or negative externalities of the development process, which highlight critical points to secure a developmental state. All of them seeming, also, more suitable to realize the elusive objective of rising broader public awareness – and thus, political power – out of cooperation outcomes inside Japanese society.

So, why not give the J-Factor a chance?