Japan has a wealth of knowledge and experience – much more than what is generally acknowledged – which can help to resolve issues faced by developing countries. Through bilateral assistance, aid provided through international organizations, and private sector businesses, Japan is continuing its various ongoing efforts to contribute to the alleviation of poverty.
What, then, are the challenges?
We believe they are:
This is where the TDLC project plays a key role.
Which comes first, demand or supply?
With over a billion Internet users throughout the world today, Japan, in the field of development, releases massive volumes of information, day and night. Much of this information often tends to be based primarily on “supply”. For intellectual overseas cooperation, contribution efforts which take into consideration the various needs and circumstances of the receiving end, or “demand,” is now in order.
Set up at 120 venues in different parts of the world, GDLN centers act as antennae which capture the “needs for knowledge and experience-sharing” in developing countries. The information collected by the World Bank is in effect a library of these needs – which, as a direct operation of the bank, TDLC is able to take full advantage of.
TDLC works together with its program partners and experts, the public and the private sectors. It is engaged in the development and execution of international dialogue, seminars, and training programs. Perceptive to both development needs and also to the multitude of content available in Japan, TDLC is able to mobilize rich expertise, and strives to function as a “coordinator of supply and demand”.
A TDLC coordinator first began looking into local requirements in Africa, together with World Bank Africa GDLN, and in May and June 2009, a distance learning course for small and medium-sized companies was held on the Toyota Production System. With help from the National graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) and the Ethiopia office of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), a video connection was made between Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, and TDLC, with Hisazumi Matsuzaki, Management Consultant for the Central Japan Industries Association (ChuSanRen), as lecturer, sharing his manufacturing expertise over a five-week period.
“I am really grateful for Japan to think about third world countries and to share their experience about success in manufacturing with us. The information is very useful for the productivity and success of our nation. I hope if we try practicing we shall be successful like Toyota. I wish you could organize more sessions.”
-- H.M., Uganda Management Institute.
A joint effort between TDLC and Kitasato University School of Nursing, the program began with an inquiry from an expert on maternal and infant health care. On a visit to Mongolia, where maternal and infant mortality remain high, the infrastructure is poor, and access to information is limited, she had been appalled at their lack of available systematic training for nurses.
The nursing and midwifery text, as well as the hospital equipment being used in Mongolia, are remnants of the old Soviet days. There, the Japanese maternal and infant health care specialist encountered local nurses with a strong desire to learn new things.
TDLC proceeded to organize a program featuring distance learning, sharing the latest knowledge available in Japan. The course was aimed at providing training for nurses and midwives, to help to nurture leaders in the area of mother and child health care. With cooperation from the Mongolian Nurses Association, two courses have been held to date -- the first was held in April 2008, followed by another in March 2009. Over 800 practitioners participated from remote areas as well as the capital, Ulaan Baatar. The course required participants to share their newly acquired knowledge with ten others at their workplace, hoping for the further spread of information.
“The safe motherhood distance learning course is great. There are not enough nurses in Mongolia, but if their nursing and midwifery work and environment can be improved, more people will become interested, and patient care will get better. ”
-- Munkhjargal Sukheea, program translator/interpreter, mother
There are various ways to make intellectual contributions to resolve global development issues and to help alleviate poverty. Research and analyses, proposals for policy measures and dialogue, training and human development, the sharing of knowledge, the transfer of technology – all these methods are very valuable. We feel, though, that the key in contribution is to pass on this knowledge to those who are truly in need.
Matching need and supply, mobilizing large numbers of recipients, communicating in a cost-effective manner – these goals can be realized with TDLC and GDLN’s trademark features: a global development network, the use of information and communication technology, and distance learning for intellectual contribution rich in both quantity and quality.
ICT and distance learning methods are efficient in time, cost, and resources, and the training programs are highly advantageous to the conventional method of having participants gather physically at a particular facility. Opinion exchange and co-learning among participants are boosted, and lecturers unable to travel from their country bases are enabled to become an active part of the programs, greatly expanding the scope of content. With limited resources, effective, sustainable intellectual communication becomes possible.
Through networks in the various countries, JICA’s JICA-NET video network, and SINET, a scientific information network of over 700 universities in Japan, TDLC brings experts in Japan together with videoconference participants in local cities in Indonesia, China, Mongolia, Africa, and more.
TDLC has, in addition to two simultaneous translation booths, a specific design for bilingual conferencing. Interpretation is simultaneous, and all domestic sites get the Japanese version, whereas overseas sites hear the English translations. So there’s no need for translation at participating sites -- a notable financial advantage.
The use of an international organization and its global development network is highly effective with its multi-faceted communication to the international community, working in parallel with Japan’s own bilateral dialogue and support for developing countries.
Proposed by the NWFP University of Engineering & Technology Peshawar, a video lecture on structural assessment for earthquake-safe building construction was held in August 2009 for academics and practitioners in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal. Hosted by the Asian Disaster Reduction Center, the lecture was backed by the International Recovery Platform, and arranged and supported technically by TDLC as part of an earthquake and disaster preparedness plan for south Asia. Expert knowledge on the structural assessment of earthquake-safe building construction was shared with participating countries by videoconference connection.
The lecture was delivered by structural engineering, earthquake engineering, and building construction expert, Hokkaido University professor emeritus Dr. Yuji Ishiyama. Following the session, participants voiced their hopes for the lecture to be continued on as a series.
“Japan has a very high level of expertise on Disaster Risk Reduction, particularly on earthquake, landslide, and cyclones. A series of lectures on hazard and risk assessment, safe construction practices, building codes, community preparedness and contingency, etc…...would be highly beneficial for disaster management practitioners and academics from South Asian countries.”
-- Sohel Khan, United Nations Development Programme Regional Coordinator, Kathmandu
What initially served to prompt the organization of this course was a newspaper report on increasing suicide rates in developing countries, caused by post-traumatic stress disorder and depression among natural disaster survivors.
At the time, TDLC and GDLN Indonesia had been planning a course for nurses in Indonesia. Upon flying to the site for investigative research, TDLC found a high level of need for knowledge on disaster nursing. It obtained cooperation from Japanese experts and in February 2009, a course was held for Indonesia and East Timor. Over 700 participants assembled for the distance learning opportunity. The local educational network, Indonesia Higher Education Network (INHERENT), GDLN, the WHO Kobe Center, and TDLC were connected for the event.
“Nurses, as front-line health care providers, must correspond to the patient under very difficult circumstances. The nurses themselves may also suffer from the disaster and only limited resources may be available. The nurses can play a very important role in fighting against the disaster for society, by increasing preparedness among themselves.”
-- Professor Achir Yani, President of the Indonesian National Nurses Association President
“I am sure that this disaster nursing program, using the GDLN and INHERENT, will be very useful and imperative for Indonesia.”
-- Said Nizam, GDLN AP, Ministry of Education, Directorate General of Higher Education, Indonesia
Another point to note in Japan’s contribution of knowledge is the importance of international dialogue and debate. It is essential that Japan look not only at the relevant developing countries but also more broadly across the global community, lend an ear to the experience and opinions of others, then re-examine and improve upon its intellectual communications.
We believe that in order to improve the quality of Japan’s intellectual contribution to the world and to boost the level of international attention which it draws, Japan needs to voice its assertions, proactively communicate its presentation content, and welcome opposing views and objections.
2A six-session distance learning seminar series was held by the World Bank East Asia and Pacific Disaster Risk Management team from December 2008 through June 2009. The series focused on post-disaster recovery planning, risk financing, and disaster risk management. Indonesia, China, India, and other Asian sites were connected with TDLC and Kobe, where experiences from the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake, or Kobe earthquake, the subsequent recovery efforts, and the lessons learned were shared.
The first session was held in cooperation with the International Recovery Platform, Hyogo prefecture, and Kobe city, sharing Japan’s post-disaster recovery planning experience with Indonesia (Aceh, Jakarta), China (Beijing), Vietnam (Hanoi), Philippines (Manila), Laos (Vientiane), Kobe, and TDLC.
In another session, Jogjakarta, Sichuan, Aceh, and Gujarat were connected with Kobe and TDLC. Through cost-effective connections, participants shared their valuable knowledge and experience in recovery, gained through efforts made after major natural disasters in their respective regions.
“We’ve experienced and analyzed both best practices and bad practices. Our role is to communicate that sort of information with the rest of the world.”
-- Shuichi Ando, United Nations Centre for Regional Development Hyogo office
Tokyo Development Learning Center
A Japan/World Bank Distance Learning Partnership Project
The World Bank • Fukoku Seimei Bldg. 10F • 2-2-2 Uchisaiwai-cho Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-0011
Tel: +81-(0)3-3597-1333 • Fax: +81-(0)3-3597-9161 • E-mail us here
