Development Blogs.com

from the Japan TimesBy SETSUKO KAMIYA and JUN HONGOStaff writersAfrican leaders said Wednesday that while their nations have a responsibility to fight poverty and improve the living conditions of millions on the continent, its partners, including Japan and other affluent nations, must also lend a hand.During the afternoon session of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, the leaders also pointed out that establishing and securing peace in troubled areas was crucial for development. The session centered on progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals adopted at the U.N. in 2000.The global community agreed to make a collective push to rectify chronic problems ranging from dire poverty and hunger to child mortality and HIV/AIDS by 2015."It is true that...

from Blue Ridge NowKEITH BRADSHER and ANDREW MARTINHONG KONG — Japan is preparing to send at least 220,000 tons of rice to the Philippines, and possibly Africa. The Japanese government says the plan is meant to ease the suffering of poor nations punished by rising rice prices.But critics, including some in Washington, worry that it could set a precedent for Japan to dump foreign rice it was obligated to import but had never wanted. They say that the Japanese plan risks setting off a trade dispute with the United States — and may barely dent the price of rice.Yet opposing the Japanese plan could put the United States in a delicate diplomatic position. The price of rice, the most important staple food of the world’s poor, has risen faster than any other cereal, nearly tripling this...

from Asahi BY TARO KARASAKI, STAFF WRITERJapanese nonprofit organizations are using walks, talks and shocks to raise awareness of Africa's plight ahead of the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV) in Yokohama on May 28-30. The groups, engaged in assistance and relief work in Africa, are devising eye-catching methods, such as holding charity walks and setting up thought-provoking exhibitions and workshops, to direct attention toward problems on the other side of the globe.Organizers say they also hope to win much-needed Japanese aid, which has recently declined.The Japan Association for the U.N. World Food Program will hold a charity walkathon in Yokohama on May 25. The nonprofit organization, which promotes and raises funds for the WFP, will donate 500...

Prime Minister Fukuda Should Highlight Rights Issues in Bilateral Relations Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda should make human rights issues a priority in his historic meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Japan next week, Human Rights Watch said in a letter today....

from Deutsche WelleEuropean and Japanese leaders said urgent action was needed to tackle soaring food prices, which threaten to increase poverty and damage the world economy. The World Food Program called the crisis a "silent tsunami."Top EU leaders, including European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, voiced their worries about the prices of food, oil and other commodities on Wednesday, April 23."Summit leaders noted with strong concern the trends of high prices of natural resources and commodities, in particular, prices of food and oil, which could slow down the growth in [the] global economy and have negative effects on developed and developing countries," they said in a joint statement following their summit in Tokyo. The statement was...

Japanese government officials planning to attend the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games should address the silencing of dissent in China and encourage the Chinese government to honor its Olympic pledges to improve human rights in the context of the Games, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth will be in Japan in mid-March to discuss a range of human rights concerns in Asia....

Human Rights Watch Sends Letter to Foreign Minister Koumura The Japanese government should publicly urge the foreign ministers of Burma, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam attending the Japan-Mekong Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Tokyo on January 16 to address human rights concerns in these Southeast Asian countries, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura....

from The GuardianJustin McCurry in TokyoJapan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, received a ringing endorsement from the unlikeliest of people today: the outspoken rock singer and poverty campaigner Bono.The U2 singer, who is in Japan on the latest leg of the band's Vertigo 2006 tour, ditched his usual criticism of rich nations and said the world could learn from Japan's commitment to developing countries."The world doesn't really understand that Japan in the 90s led the world not just as a percentage contribution to the world's poor but as the volume contribution," he told reporters after the meeting at Mr Abe's office.Despite evidence that Japan is dragging its heels on the millennium development goals agreed at last year's G8 summit, Bono said he believed Tokyo would make good on its...

Municipality Must Not Weaken Landmark Anti-Discrimination Law A move to eliminate “sexual orientation” from a Japanese city's groundbreaking antidiscrimination ordinance would be a damaging blow to the cause of full equality, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the city’s mayor. The city assembly of Miyakonojo will begin debating the proposed changes tomorrow....

The new and updated edition of the Digital Review of Asia Pacific contains authoritative reports on how 29 economies/countries are using ICT in business, government and civil society written by senior authors who live and work in the region. Included are three subregional chapters on the Pacific Island States, ASEAN and APEC....

The Roadmap for Open ICT Ecosystems is a user-friendly guide for policy makers and technologists offerings tools for understanding, creating, and sustaining open information and communication technologies ecosystems. Inside the guide you will find: core principles for openness; best practices and case studies; practical policy guidelines; and an Openness Maturity Model....

As part of the project entitled "Capacity Building of Asia Pacific e-Government Initiatives," APDIP, UNDP's Asia Regional Governance Programme and the United Nation Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD) jointly organized a regional workshop in Bangkok, Thailand on 24-25 April 2006 to review and disuss 20 case studies from 12 different Asia-Pacific countries. This workshop was held back-to-back with egov Asia 2006, the Asian e-government conference, and at the same venue in Rama Gardens Hotel and Resort in Bangkok....