On 18th January, the 72nd Regular GII/IDI meeting was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), with eleven representatives from MOFA and 24 from NGO members in attendance.

Case study on GO/NGO partnership

Following the previous GII/IDI meeting (click here), the first of a series of case studies of good practices on GO/NGO partnership was presented to highlight NGOs comparative advantage in promoting the Health and Development Initiative (HDI).

A Japanese NGO presented an example of good practice; conducting HIV/AIDS prevention activities in a major bridge construction project by the government of Vietnam supported by Japanese ODA loans.

Building upon the outcome and lessons learned from the HIV/AIDS prevention activities conducted at the Bridge of Hope project, JBIC, a Japanese ODA loan operator, has been encouraging project executing agencies to incorporate a HIV/AIDS prevention clause in bid contracts with civil works companies for large-scale infrastructure projects in countries with high HIV infection rates.

MOFA agreed that the case presented had the potential of becoming a model example of GO/NGO partnership, and asked that NGO experience from the project be shared with the local Japanese embassy and JICA office.

JICA and JBIC were also present, and active discussion followed to identify what other elements should be strengthened to make this NGO practice a model for GO/NGO good partnership.

GO/NGO collaboration to increase Japan's visibility at HIV/AIDS conferences

NGO representatives said that three major regional conferences on HIV/AIDS (8th ICAAP, Sri Lanka, 19th to 23rd August; the 15th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA), Senegal, 8th to 11th December; and the Congreso Centroamericano de ITS/VIH/SIDA, Nicaragua, 4th to 9th November) were scheduled for this year.

The NGOs said it was important to increase Japan's international visibility, especially in its efforts to tackle HIV/AIDS, and in international cooperation. The NGOs stated they were willing and able to collaborate with MOFA, JICA, etc., in public relations activities at these conferences, even if MOFA could not provide financial assistance to do so.

Both MOFA and NGOs agreed that the ministry and NGOs needed to cooperate strategically, and that Japan's HIV/AIDS activities needed to better showcased.

ODA FY2007 draft proposal

MOFA detailed the draft ODA MOFA budget for fiscal 2007. The total amount will be 454.4 billion yen, a decrease of 18.9 billion from 2006, or 4%. The draft proposal will now go to the Diet for approval.

MOFA stated that ODA was being affected in light of the Basic Policies for Economic and Fiscal Management and Structural Reform 2006, and that ODA would see further cuts of between 2-4% each year over the next five years.

However, the Japanese government will steadily perform its international pledge to increase ODA by US$ 10 billion over the next five years, MOFA stated. This will be achieved, for example, through the use of supplementary budgets.

For FY 2006, a supplementary budget of 86.2 billion yen was provided, including 20.5 billion yen to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

MOFA also stated that over the next five years it plans to further raise the capacity of NGOs to increase their ability to participate in ODA implementation.