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Speaker:

Kenzo Oshima

Senior Vice President

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Tokyo

“From TICAD IV, Tokyo to G8 Summit, Toyako”

Date: 12 June 2008

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Ambassador Kenzo Oshima is Senior Vice President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Prior to joining JICA, he was permanent representative of Japan to the United Nations in New York (2005-2007), ambassador of Japan to Australia (2003-2004) and UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs (2001-2003). He acted as Secretary-General of the Secretariat for International Peace Cooperation HQs in the Office of the Prime Minister of Japan, where he oversaw Japan's peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance program. During his early diplomatic career he was posted to France, India, Australia, Washington and New York.

Roundtable Topic

Japan hosts the once-every-five-year Conference on African Development (TICAD) in May and the G8 Summit in July. At these major events, African and world leaders will discuss strategies and action plans on the key issues facing the African continent including accelerating economic growth, promoting human security and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and dealing with impacts from climate change. Response to the emerging food crisis, particularly hurting vulnerable African and other developing countries, is another major concern. A number of initiatives and proposals are announced or on the table, and these will be reviewed, as well as how the key countries, UN and other international organizations are going to deal with these challenges.

At the same time, the international development aid community is witnessing a donor proliferation with the emergence of new donors (China, India, Mexico, etc.), and increasing South-South cooperation (including Asia-Africa cooperation), which also will need to be reviewed.

In October, Japan’s two aid agencies, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the yen-loan component of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) will formally be merged into a new JICA. Its implications will be reviewed.

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