In 1992, the International Peace Cooperation Headquarters (IPCH) was established within the Prime Minister's Office of the Japanese government to carry out the mandate of the International Peace Co-operation Law (IPCL). Over the subsequent 17 years, the IPCH dispatched a total of 6,016 personnel to 23 United Nations peacekeeping missions in 14 different countries. Both Self-Defense Forces (SDF) personnel and civilian officials were assigned to the UN missions, playing various roles, including cease-fire monitoring, logistical support, election monitoring, humanitarian relief, and so forth. Of the 23 missions, only five – Rwanda, East Timor, Afghanistan, and two to Iraq – were humanitarian in nature. During these five missions, the IPCH dispatched both SDF personnel and civilian officials to assist refugees and internally displaced persons (IDP) directly and indirectly.
This paper reviews the international and domestic contexts of the IPCH’s two humanitarian in-kind contribution operations in Rwanda and East Timor. In doing so, the paper intends to shed light on some of the international and domestic factors that led the IPCH to offer both material and personnel overseas. Since the IPCH promotes aid of both types under the guiding principle of “aid visibly tied to Japan,” a contextual analysis of IPCH’s operations in 1994 and 1999 may offer some insights for policy makers interested in developing a peacekeeping support formula that embodies the sprit of the IPCL.
