|
As a networking NGO and a proponent
for strengthening civil society, JANIC's activities
have revolved around the following activities:
Promoting Partnership Among NGOs
・ JANIC NGO members meeting and promotion of coorperation.
・ National Conference of Network NGOs.
・ Cooperation with overseas NGOs.
Strengthening the Organizational and Project Implementation Capacity of NGOs
・ Risk management & security management seminar.
・ Basic accounting courses for NGOs.
・ Training Program for staff of NGOs concerned with supporting children
in developing countries(Joint program with the Japan Committee for
UNICEF).
・ Capacity buildidng seminar for leaders of the next generation.
Creating a Favorable Environment for NGO Activities /Policy Advocacy
・ JANIC's Committee on Advocacy.
・ Making Guidelines of NGO accountability.
・ Serving as NGO secretariat /focal point for the formal meeting with
the MoFA, JICA and JBIC.
・ Lobbying to improve the Law to promote citizens organizations.
・ Setting up of a discussion group between Parliament members and NGOs.
Widening Citizen Support and Participation in NGO Activities through Information
Dissemination
・ Providing the services of its NGO Information and Resource Center.
・ Coordinating annual“Global Festa”held in Tokyo.
・ Participation in events related to international cooperation.
・ Serving as guest lecturer
・ Publication of JANIC's Japanese newsletter NGO Correspondence: Global Citizens.
・ Publication of NGO Directory and books on NGOs.
Promoting Dialogue and Network With Other Sectors of Society
JANIC collaborate with other social institutions which are concerned with
international assistance (or international common cause). They include
international centers (or sections) of local governments, educational institutions,
economic organizations, Labor Unions, JANIC provides them with necessary
information and advice on requests concerning international voluntary activities
at grassroots level.
Strengthening JANIC as an Institution
JANIC has created a core team for its fund-raising and membershiip expansion activities, with the leadership of the Board
of Trustees and one outside volunteer and two staff from JANIC. Targets for JANIC's fund-raising activities are prospective
individuals, companies, labor unions, and prospective individual and NGO sustaining members.
History of JANIC
The history of JANIC is short. Through the initiative of eleven NGO leaders, it started with a small office staffed by a
few volunteers in order to serve the Japanese NGO community engaged in international development coorperation, and to act as a clearinghouse of
information regarding Japanese NGOs. In the past few years, in addition to the mission mentioned above, JANIC has started to emarge as an
institution that fosters the growth and development an active civil society in Japan.
The early beginnings
JANIC was founded in October 1987 with the initiative of eleven NGO leaders. It aimed to foster the growth of the Japanese NGO community engaged in
international coorperation by 1) promoting networking among NGOs; 2) strengthening the institutional capacity of NGOs; 3) expanding the number of
supporters of NGO activities in society; 4) promoting dialogue between NGOs and other sectors of society such as governmental and business; 5) and
promoting collaborative relations with like-minded foreign NGOs in both developing and developed countries.
Since its inception, JANIC has expanded from a voluntary operation with
a grant of ￥500,000(US$4,300) and funds collected from memberships fees
of nine NGO members, working at a desk in the corner of a storeroom of
an NGO office, to an independent office of eleven full-time and two part-time
staff members, few interns and dozens of volunteers with an annual budget
of roughly ￥83 million (US$720,000) as of April 2004.
In the early years, when financial souces weer scarce, almost all the projects
were carried out with designated grants from private foundations and also
with entrusted funds from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs(MoFA). Some of
the very early projects were the publication of the Directory of NGOs in
Japan funded by MoFA and the survey of NGO workers, focusing on their educational
and professional background and their workingconditions. Others were a
series of international conferences such as the Asian NGO Forum on the
Role of Appropriate Technology in Asia Development and Cooperation Among
NGOs, and the International Symposium in the Role of NGOs in Development
Cooperation.
JANIC also initiated a study on the relationship between NGOs and official
development assistance(ODA) from an international perspective, and based
on the findings, made recommendations to the MoFA. In 1988, JANIC initiated
the establishement of the Joint Committee of 15 NGOs to Assist Victims
of the Big Flood in Bangladesh in 1988, and in 1991, JANIC organized the
first National NGO conference, which let to the creation of the National
Liaison Committee of NGOs.
Reaching out to the public and staff development for NGOs
After three years of preparatery activities using grants from a foundation,
in 1990 JANIC opened the Resource Corner on NGO activities and international
development issues, An increasing number of people started to visit the
Corner, and in 1992 using the Corner, JANIC began to offer a public seminar
on NGOs and a placement guidance seminar for NGOs. Moreover, a series of
global citizens seminars was conducted in collaboration with the local
government agency in various cities.
Staff development for NGOs between another area of JANIC's concern. In 1991, JANIC started an accounting course for NGO
workers, and held the International Workshop on Human Resource Development for NGOs in 1992. This workshop let to a series
of staff training programs in the following years, including leadership training and mid-level staff training overseas.
Also, in responding to the emergency situation of Kurdish refugees in early 1991, JANIC
initiated the establishment of a joint committee composed of 18 NGOs to extend emergency assistance to the refugees. This
led to the creation to the Japanese Joint NGO Committee for International EmergencyRelief in 1992 that conducted a food
assistance program to the Tigray people in Ethiopia suffering from an impending famine.
The global environment became another field of concern for JANIC. In 1991, JANIC held the International Forum on Development,
Environment and Citizens Role and also conducted a field trip for foreign participatants to environmentally contaminated
districts, such as Minamata in Japan. JANIC also published a Green Tree Directory compiling some 70 organizations include
38 NGOs engaged in the preservation of forests and international reforestation.
Organizational strengthening and NGO sector development
Information dissemination activities have continued to expand, and the
NGO resouece Center was renamed the NGO-Citizens in 1944. In the past years,an average of 1500 people visit the Center annually. More recently,
the Center has started to make use of the Internet system and opened a
home-page for JANIC and international cooperation topics. JANIC hopes to
make linkages not on among NGOs, including foreign ones, but also among
citizens, foundation and companies concerned with international cooperation.
Staff training has become more systematic. JANIC conducts several accounting
courses for NGOs all over the country, including Hokkaido in the north
and Okinawa in the south. In 1996, a new course was introduced for entry-level
staff and volunteers. JANIC also conducts overseas training programs for
NGO workers engaged in environment protection. Also, with the generous
support of Japan International Coorporation Agency(JICA), since 1989, JANIC
has continued to serve as secretariat for NGO workers who receive intensive
language training at its facility. JANIC also played an important role
during the Hanshin big Earthquake in 1995. It initiated fund-raising and
distributer the funds collected to its member organizations operating at
the sites. Furthermore, its served as spokesman for its member organizations
to the mass media and to the society in general.
In order to improve its financial base, in 1994, JANIC shifted its priority
from a project-based funding policy to the expansion of its sustaining
members (both individual and corporate) and general fund-raising for JANIC's
institutional support. The number of individual sustaining members increased
from 340 in 1993 to 820 in 1997. The number of corporate members including
non-profit organizations, such as foundations, increased from 23 in 1993
to 74 in 2005.
The latest development for JANIC is its new role in the advocacy and policy
recommendation area. Since 1995, by promoting a bill for Citizens Organizations
which proposes to grant legal status to citizen groups and organizations
(about 90% of Japanese NGOs have no legal status), JANIC plays a leading
role in lobbying national diet members for improvement in the substance
of the bill. Another important development initiated by JANIC is the creation
of the NGOs-MoFA Council in 1996. The representatives of NGOs meet with
officials of MoFA every three months to discuss the issues related to both
NGOs and MoFA, such as government support schemes for NGOs and the participants
of NGOs in ODA process. |