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Local Authorities International Cooperation
Promotion Projects ("Model Projects") |
In recent years, international exchange between local governments has begun to move beyond “international exchange” and other exchanges of goodwill. Still building upon the established foundations of goodwill, local authorities are now actively developing “international cooperation projects” by making use of the special human resources and expertise they possess.
This trend has raised expectations for cooperation activities of local governments with the following characteristics:
- Be diverse and take advantage of unique regional characteristics;
- Have increased citizen participation;
- Be undertaken by local governments and their partners as equals;
- Be carefully crafted to meet the wishes of cooperative partners.
In order to support and promote such positive trends, CLAIR has been designating innovative and exemplary international cooperation projects of local governments as "Model Projects" since 1996. These model projects are then actively supported by CLAIR.
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| 1. Breakdown of Model Projects for fiscal year 2009 |
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| Number of Recognized Groups: 25 local governments (14 prefectures and 11 cities) and 6 regional international associations. |
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| 2. Period for the Implementation of the Projects |
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| April 1, 2009- March 31, 2010 |
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| 3. Organizations Eligible for Support |
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Japanese local authorities (prefectures, cities, towns, villages) and NGOs*
*Only NGOs implementing projects in collaboration with a local authority are eligible. Assistance for projects will pass through the local authorities involved.) |
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| 4. Projects Eligible for Support |
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| International cooperation projects implemented by Japanese local authorities, or NGOs collaborating with Japanese local authorities, are eligible. Projects in preliminary investigative stages may also be eligible. Projects of financial assistance and projects that are already receiving support from the national government are not eligible |
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| 5. CLAIR's Financial Support for Projects |
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Financial support is limited to 3,000,000 yen.
When local governments conjointly implement a project, the maximum financial support is up to 5,000,000 yen, regardless of the number of parties involved. |
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| 6. Model Project Evaluation and Publicity |
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After projects are completed, they are evaluated and then widely publicized with the aim of further promoting international cooperation projects.
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