Above all, putting the Istanbul Principles into practice - 3rd national consultation in Japan

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On the 16th and the 17th of January in Tokyo, Japan, NGO Center for International Cooperation JANIC has held 2 important events on CSO effectiveness and multi-stakeholder engagement in the new development paradigm.

16 JANUARY: Open Symposium on ODA Aid Effectiveness: Where is International Development Cooperation Heading?  Debriefing Session on Busan HLF 

JANIC organized this debriefing session on the Busan 4th High Level Forum as a follow up to the symposium co-hosted with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs on 11 November 2011. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided their support on this occasion as well, with opening remarks delivered by JANIC Chair Person Masaaki OHASHI and Parliamentary Vice-Minister Mr. Joe NAKANO. The event then looked into CSO Advocacy at HLF4, with presenters including Anselmo Lee, KoFID (co-organizer of the Busan Global Civil Society Forum) and concluded with a multi-stakeholder Panel Discussion on achievements and challenges ahead.

View the agenda of the Symposium and photos.

17 JANUARY: The Third National Consultation on CSO Development Effectiveness: Putting Efforts to Improve Own Development Effectiveness

Japanese CSOs took the discussion on challenges and opportunities forward to address their own effectiveness as development actors the next day at the 3rd Japanese Consultation on CSO Development Effectiveness.

JANIC has been actively working with the Open Forum process to promote domestic discussion on development effectiveness. As a result of two previous national consultations and outreach, it gained a firm place on Japanese NGOs’ agenda.

This 3rd national consultation organized by JANIC focused on the next steps following the Busan event (where the International Framework for CSO Development Effectiveness was acknowledged in the outcome agreement), and on " above all, putting the Istanbul Principles into practice .

After re-visiting the International Framework for CSO Development Effectiveness, the outcomes of the 4th High Level Forum and the role of the Implementation Toolkit, Japanese CSOs who have already introduced the Istanbul Principles in their work presented their case studies:

• Principle 1 Human Rights and Social Justice
  - Mr. Kazuo Tsurumi from Plan Japan
• Principle 2 Women and Girl’s Rights
  - Ms. Sayaka Murata from Kamonhashi Project
• Principle 5 Transparency and Accountability
  - Mr. Takafumi Miyake from Shanti Volunteer Association

• (View the 8 Istanbul Principles here)

Participants then divided into groups by Principle to envisage what implementation of the Principles would entail in their specific contexts:

• Are there any aspects which we have already implemented?
• What are the aspects which we will be able to work on ?
• Are there any aspects which we will face difficulties to implement ?
• What are the stumbling blocks on promoting the efforts to improve - development effectiveness among Japanese NGOs ?

Please consult the full agenda of the Japanese consultation and view the photos.

For questions and further information, please write to info cso-effectiveness.org.