Japan now largest donor after France

Japan’s official development assistance to the CAR averaged US$ 20 million a year during the 1996-98 period, making it the second largest bilateral donor after France, a statement from the Permanent Mission of Japan to the UN said. It quoted Permanent Representative Yukio Satoh as saying on Monday at the New York meeting that Japan would remain committed to supporting the CAR’s development efforts, although Japanese policy did not allow it to provide assistance “to such areas as those supporting a national military, a military police force, or a police authority.” Satoh said the stability achieved in the CAR was “all the more noteworthy when many crises with human suffering are occurring in various parts of Africa.”