Japan Press Weekly

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2020 May 27 - June 2 [POLITICS]

JCP lawmaker calls for medical-centric ODA

Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Ito Gaku on May 29 demanded that the Japanese government make a shift toward social aid-centric official development assistance (ODA) such as promoting education and ensuring healthcare/hygiene in order to hamper the spread of coronavirus infections in developing countries.

At a meeting of the House of Councilors Special Committee on ODA on the same day, JCP Ito said that the pandemic will flow back into Europe, the U.S., and Asia again unless a sharp spike in COVID-19 cases is prevented in Africa, and that Japan may suffer grave consequences.

Ito demanded an additional ODA contribution to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) to encourage the availability of vaccinations in developing countries.

Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu said in response, "It is a major duty of the international community to provide support for countries, including African states, with vulnerable medical/healthcare systems." Assistant Minister in charge of global issues Tsukada Tamaki also said. "From the viewpoint of protecting the people in these countries, vaccinations there will be effective."

Ito pointed out that Japan allocated 57.3% of its ODA budget for economic infrastructure in fiscal 2018, standing in sharp relief as compared to the U.S. (3.3%) and Germany (19.5%). On the other hand, for social infrastructure, Japan allotted only 15.8% of ODA funds, according to Ito.

He added, "Japan should boldly shift the center of gravity of its ODA budgetary allocations towards social infrastructure such as healthcare/hygiene and education."