Wednesday, December 15th, 2004
The Joint Japan/World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program Helps Celebrate 50 Years of Japanese Oversea
"Giving us the opportunity to fulfill our dreams"
Mr. Yoshio Okubo (second from left), the World Bank's Executive Director for Japan, speaking from Tokyo
The Joint Japan/World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program (JJ/WBGSP) is one of the remarkable success story of Japan's overseas development assistance.
The JJ/WBGSP, wholly financed by the Government of Japan for 19 years, has received over US$130 million. The current fiscal year allocations is $14 million. The program has sponsored more than 3,260 mid-career professionals from developing countries to pursue their masters' degrees in development-related fields in hundreds of universities around the globe, including Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, MIT, Cambridge, Oxford, and Keio.
Today many alumni of the JJ/WBGSP hold important public and private sector positions in their countries. Some are now ministers, governors of Central Banks, advisors to presidents, bankers, media specialists, and activists in civil society organizations.
To mark the 50th anniversary of Japan's Overseas Development Assistance Program WBI recently arranged a videoconference with the GDLN Center in Tokyo, the University of Tsukuba, and a regional gathering of scholars and alumni at Harvard University.
During the videoconference, Mr. Yoshio Okubo, the World Bank's Executive Director for Japan emphasized Japan's commitment to the goal of world development; and Yukio Yoshimura, World Bank Vice President and Special Representative for Japan talked about Japan's transformation from being a borrower immediately after the Second World War to becoming a major multilateral donor today.
More than 60 JJ/WBGSP scholars studying in Japan at Keio University, Yokohama National University, the Graduate Research Institute for Policy Studies, and the University of Tsukuba attended the meeting. JJ/WBGSP scholars in the Boston area and their professors attended the event as did guest alumni from Laos, Macedonia, Ghana and Surinam.
Ms. Frannie Léautier, WBI Vice President, addresses the conference
Frannie A. Léautier, WBI Vice President, Mr. Toshio Oya, Japan's Alternate Executive Director, and Mr. Kabir Ahmed, WBI Chief Administrative Officer were also present. Frannie Léautier congratulated the Government of Japan on the 50th. Anniversary of Japan's ODA Programs which contributed over US$220 billion to world development, an outstanding example of which was the substantial investment in capacity building and human resources development of over US130 million since 1987.
Mr. Toshio Oya, Japan's Alternative Executive Director, speaking at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government
Mr. Oya noted that Japanese ODA grants and loans take 10 or 20-years to implement and therefore cannot be successful without sufficient human capacity and good governance to support them.
"I am so thankful to the Government of Japan for giving us the opportunity to fulfill our dreams and to the Bank for recognizing our potential to fulfill our parent's promises" said Aholotu Palu, and alumni from Tonga. "I am honored to have this opportunity to thank the Government and people of Japan, as well as the JJ/WBGSP for sponsoring my education at the Kennedy School of Government", said Alan Fuchs from Mexico.
Ms. Léautier with alumni of the scholarship program
Four alumni traveled from their countries for this event to express their gratitude to the Government of Japan and to share their experiences with current scholars. Niermala Hindori-Bradrising, Policy Advisor to the President of Suriname said: "I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the Government of Japan and the JJ/WBGSP for supporting my career advancement, and for endowing me with "tools" to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development of my country Suriname." Dr. Somikat Phasy from Laos presented his sincere appreciation and gratitude to the Government of Japan for the memorable and very useful knowledge and skills he acquired through the JJ/WBGSP sponsorship. Both Komla Dumor from Ghana, and Rubinco Zareski from Macedonia encouraged current scholar to gain as much knowledge as possible, go back to their home countries and participate actively in the development process.
Our thanks to Mr. Abdul Al-Mashat, Scholarships Administrator, for this article.
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Related Links:
World Bank Institute's JJ/WBGSP page
