Japan Policy & Politics
Nov 25, 2002

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) play an extremely important role abroad as their activities are an effective form of diplomacy, Japan's new ambassador in charge of NGOs, Mitsuhiro Saotome, says.

''It is often said that Japan has been conducting diplomacy that is not visible...But NGOs are going out in the field and are making Japan's presence visible,'' said Saotome, who was appointed to the newly created post at the Foreign Ministry on Nov. 8.

Boosting government funds for the NGOs will allow assistance to be directly funneled to the grass-roots level and utilized more effectively for specific projects, Saotome said in a recent interview with Kyodo News.

Commenting on his new role, Saotome said, ''I don't have many restrictions. In a sense, the judgments are left up to me.''

Saotome was tapped for the post, given his experience of working with NGOs since his appointment as the ministry's first director of the Non-Governmental Organizations Assistance Division in 1994.

He expressed regret for the incident in which the ministry refused to allow NGOs to attend an international aid conference on Afghanistan's reconstruction held in Tokyo in January. The incident led the ministry to create his post.

''Personally, I think through my experience in Tokyo and in the field (while he served as ambassador to Zambia and Malawi), I've been able to establish close and trusting relations with people from Japanese as well as international NGOs,'' Saotome said.

Prior to his stint in Africa, Saotome, 64, had held such posts as consul at the Japanese Consulate General in Los Angeles and Consul General at the Japanese Consulate General in Auckland, New Zealand. He joined the Foreign Ministry in 1965 after studying psychology at state-run Chiba University.

He said he hopes to keep in close contact with NGOs and to further strengthen good relations with the groups in an effort to prevent a recurrence of incidents like the one in January.

He said that he also hopes to create an environment in which NGOs can work effectively.

Saotome said he believes close collaboration among the government, NGOs, companies and the media is necessary in order for NGOs to conduct their work effectively. He also hopes to promote information exchanges between the public and private sectors.

Saotome would also like to provide support for Japanese NGOs so they can place more emphasis on training their personnel to become specialists in their fields.

Specialists are not only beneficial abroad, but also in Japan, he said, citing the example of NGOs engaged in disaster-relief assistance in other countries.

Pointing out that natural disasters happen everywhere in the world, Saotome said, ''The experience NGOs gain abroad can actually help the citizens of Japan, too.''

A native of Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, he has also lectured at universities such us Meiji Gakuin University and Teikyo University

on a part-time basis about contemporary U.S. politics and development assistance theory as well as other topics.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Kyodo News International, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group

Source: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0XPQ/is_2002_Nov_25/ai_94585612