Mekong Watch CATFISH TALES
Topic: UPDATE ON JICA's NEW ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL GUIDELINES
Date: 5 September 2003
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NOTE: This is a brief update on the "JICA Environmental and Social
Guidelines Revision Committee," a committee established in December 2002 to
draft recommendations for a new set of guidelines for JICA
operations. Please see Catfish Tales Issue #9
<http://www.mekongwatch.org/_archive/catfish/0/9.html> for background
information if necessary.
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UPDATE ON JICA's NEW ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL GUIDELINES
Official recommendations for new environmental and social guidelines for
the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will soon be complete,
after a grueling series of 18 sessions. At the next meeting of the "JICA
Environmental and Social Guidelines Revision Committee" on September 22nd,
its Recommendations for the new guidelines will be finalized and submitted
to JICA. The Revision Committee is a group comprised of JICA and ministry
officials, academics, NGOs, and the corporate sector. The Recommendations
have been written primarily by a group composed of several members of the
Revision Committee, which has been taken section-by-section to the entire
Committee for feedback and revision.
JICA will then write a first draft of the Environmental and Social
Guidelines based on the Recommendations of the Revision Committee. JICA's
draft is expected to be complete in October, and this draft will then be
submitted back to the Revision Committee. The Revision Committee will then
review JICA's draft, and may demand explanations for any differences or
contradictions with its Recommendations. Revisions to JICA's draft may
also be recommended.
After JICA revises the draft guidelines based on the Revision Committee's
review, a second draft will be released for public comment. An English
version of this second draft will also be available so that a wider range
of comments can be collected.
We expect that public consultations will be held so that the public can
give their comments regarding JICA's draft, and that additional revisions
may be made based on the input from these consultations. After these
revisions, a final draft will again be released for public comment and
another set of public consultations held, where JICA will explain any
changes made (or not made) and the reasons for them.
On 1 April 2004, the JICA's new Environmental and Social Guidelines will be
enacted. We expect a discussion process to establish a complaints
mechanism to be complete by the time of implementation.
At this time, it is no longer possible to influence the content of the
Recommendations, but we hope that interested people from the Mekong Region
and elsewhere will share their ideas once JICA's draft is available for
public comment in October.
IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS OF THE REVISION COMMITTEE'S DRAFT
1) Early Project Categorization: Proposals for aid from developing
countries will be screened at this early stage and categorized for each
project's expected social and environmental impacts. This screening will
be done before any decisions are made on whether or not to provide
assistance for the project.
2) Information Disclosure: Brief descriptions of projects categorized as
"Category A" (having significant environmental/social impacts) will be
disclosed before decisions are made on whether or not to approve the
project for assistance. Third parties can provide information about
concerns and negative impacts to JICA. After projects are approved, more
details of the project will be disclosed (regardless of categorization).
3) Broad inclusion of Social Impacts: A broad range of social impacts has
been defined as within the scope of consideration when making decisions on
a project. They include social capital, distribution of land, poverty, and
land-related interests.
4) Political and Social considerations: Freedom of expression (or lack
of) and regional conflicts have also been included as factors for
consideration in deciding whether or not to approve a project, and how it
should be implemented.
MEKONG WATCH'S INVOLVEMENT
The director of Mekong Watch has been an active member of the Revision
Committee as well as the Drafting Committee for the new guidelines. Mekong
Watch has participated in this process primarily with the hope that the
resulting guidelines can be a useful tool for project-affected communities
in the Mekong Region to either prevent or address negative impacts from
JICA operations.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
If you would like more information about the Guidelines, please write to
JICA at <jicapvg@jica.go.jp>.
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