Five NGO leaders and three Diet members came together for a roundtable to discuss how to strengthen Japanese NGOs’ institutional capacity to work as strategic partners with the government on development and humanitarian affairs.
The NGO leaders reported on the preliminary findings of a March delegation to Washington DC, during which the study team met with US government officials, NGO leaders, and policy experts, to learn how American NGOs developed to the point to which they could partner effectively with the government on more equal terms. They also shared the latest issues and developments concerning NGOs in Japan and steps that are needed to make Japan’s NGO sector more effective, advance government-NGO partnerships, and promote more effective US-Japan cooperation.
PARTICIPANTS
Diet Members
- SHINICHI ISA (Member, House of Representatives)
- MASAHIKO SHIBAYAMA (Member, House of Representatives; Advisor to the Prime Minister)
- KEISUKE SUZUKI (Member, House of Representatives)
NGO Leaders
- YUMIKO HORIE (Advocacy Manager, Save the Children Japan)
- HIROAKI ISHII (Executive Director, Japan Association for Refugees)
- KEIKO KIYAMA (Secretary-General, JEN)
- KUNIO SENGA (CEO, Save the Children Japan)
- HIDEKI WAKABAYASHI (Secretary-General, JANIC)
JCIE
- HIDEKO KATSUMATA (Managing Director and COO, JCIE/Japan)
- JAMES GANNON (Executive Director, JCIE/USA)
- RYO TAINAKA (Administrative Assistant, JCIE/Japan)