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As a networking NGO and a proponent
for strengthening civil society, JANIC's activities
have revolved around the following activities:
Promoting Partnership Among NGOs
E JANIC NGO members meeting and promotion of coorperation.
E Coordination Conference of Network NGOs
E Cooperation with overseas NGOs.
Strengthening Capacity of NGOs and the promotion of Social Responsibility initiatives
E Providing capacity building opportunities for NGO staff by function in collaboration with private donors.
E Awareness raising on accountability and SR (Social Responsibility) issues among NGOs.
E Promoting gAccountability Self Check 2008 g (a self inspection tool developed by JANIC) to member NGOs.
Creating a Favorable Environment for NGO Activities /Policy Advocacy
E Research and Advocacy on ODA Aid Effectiveness and CSO Development Effectiveness
E Advocacy and Campaigning for the realization of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
E Advocacy work through cooperation with other NGOs
E Serving as NGO secretariat /focal point for recurring meetings between the MoFA and JICA
For more details, please refer to this page.
Widening Citizen Support and Participation in NGO Activities through Information
Dissemination
E Providing services of the NGO Information and Resource Center.
E Coordinating the biggest annual festival for international cooperation called gGlobal Festah held in Tokyo, co-organized with the MoFA and JICA.
E Participation in various events related to international cooperation.
E Serving as guest lecturer regarding international cooperation and NGOs.
E Publication of JANIC's journal named gSynergyh related to the latest NGOsfactivities and their trend.
E Update gNGO Directoryh through the website.
E Publication of NGO Data Book and books on NGOs.
Promoting Dialogue and Network With Other Sectors of Society
JANIC collaborates with other social institutions which are concerned with international assistance (or international common cause). They include international centers (or sections) of local governments, Enterprises? and Labor Unions. JANIC provides them with necessary information and advice on requests concerning international voluntary activities at grassroots level. Also, JANIC has served as the secretariat for both gNGO-Trade Union International Collaboration Forumh since 2004 and Japan CSR Network for CSR Promotion since 2008.
The history of JANIC is relatively short. Through the initiative of eleven NGO leaders in 1987, JANIC started with a small office staffed by a few volunteers in order to serve the Japanese NGO community engaged in international development cooperation, and to act as a clearinghouse of information regarding Japanese NGOs. In the past decade, in addition to the mission mentioned above, JANIC has started to emerge 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 cooperation 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 such as governmental and business entities; 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 15 full-time and two part-time staffs , a few interns and dozens of volunteers with an annual budget of roughly 109 million (US$1,160,000) as of April 2007.
In the early years, when financial sources were 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 working conditions. 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 establishment 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 preparatory 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 concerns. 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 Emergency Relief 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 had continued to expand, and the NGO resource Center was renamed the NGO-Citizens in 1994. 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 only among NGOs including foreign ones but also among citizens, foundation and companies concerned with international cooperation.
Staff training has become more systematic. JANIC conducted 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 conducted overseas training programs for NGO workers engaged in environment protection. Also, with the generous support of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), since 1989, JANIC had continued to serve as the 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 distributed the funds collected to its member organizations operating at the sites. Furthermore, it served as a 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 corporate members including non-profit organizations, such as foundations, increased from 23 in 1993 to 84 in 2009.
In the mid of 1990s, JANIC had taken a next step into the advocacy activities. 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.
Committing to the global issues and strengthening the network with other sectors
In 2001, JANIC obtained the legal status, Non-Profit Organization. JANIC started to commit to more varieties of activities such as deepening of relations with other actors and sectors, and advocating on the global issues.
In 2002, JANIC organized the first nation wide conference for network NGOs, which were located in the provincial areas and concerned with the international development, to discuss and share their experiences and promote a better understanding of each other. This conference is held almost every year to advance cooperation among network NGOs since then. In 2004, JANIC initiated gNGO-Trade Union International Collaboration Forumh, in which development issues were discussed, to deepening the relationship with Trade Union. In 2008, JANIC sought to establish a new network with the private sector and launched gJapan NGO Network for CSR Promotionh which discuss issues on international development matters and foster the cooperation between NGOs and business sector to tackle these issues. These forum and network gained the active participation and cooperation of NGOs, trade unions and business sector.@Through these works, JANIC has expanded the scope of activities and encouraged Japanese NGOs to build new relations with other sectors.
In order to strengthen the activities of advocacy and the connection with other network NGOs globally, JANIC became a member of G8 NGO Platform Network which was a network comprised by the main network NGOs in each G8 countries. The G8 NGO Platform Network has published a joint statement on every occasion of key international conferences such as G8 summit. At the time when Japan hosted the G8 summit in 2008, 141 Japanese NGOs got together and organized the g2008 Japan G8 Summit NGO Forumh which actively engaged in advocacy works and opened up fresh possibility for constructive relations with the government. JANIC played a key role in the network as the secretariat. This NGO Forum empowered and encouraged Japanese NGOs to go on a next stage. JANIC now focus on MDGs and Aid Effectiveness which is not widely recognized in public while it is a key term in international cooperation and development.
JANIC has continuously committed to strengthening the capacity , both managemental and issue-focused, of NGOs, through provision of training and materials. For the purpose of improving NGO accountability, JANIC set up the gNGO accountability committeeh in 2002. The discussion in this committee resulted in developing the gAccountability Self-Check 2008h@tool-kit which any NGOs are able to use to check the current condition of accountability measures of their organization. In order to help NGOs financially, JANIC started the gNGO Support Donationh system in which NGOs are categorized in several groups according to activity fields such as education, heath, rural development, and potential donor can chose a specific category that they want to support. This system, available on JANICfs website, made it easier to donate for those who wish to contribute to a particular issue but do not know which NGO is best-suited.
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