Rebuilding the Lives of the Displaced - JICA · Rebuilding the Lives of the Displaced Refugees and...

The Magazine of the Japan International Cooperation Agency │ www.jica.go.jp/english │ October 2017 Vol.9・No.4

Rebuilding the Lives of the Displaced

Refugees and Displaced People

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2 JICA'S WORLD OCTOBER 2017

the Rohingya refugees in Myanmar.In the past years, the international community has been

tirelessly assisting refugees. However, there are signs that this generosity may be running out as indicated by a growing re-luctance of some European countries to accept refugees. One reason for this reluctance is the sheer number of refugees, which places a considerable strain on the receiving countries’ reception capacity and resources. Additionally, prejudice is spreading in some areas, fueled by the repeated terrorist at-tacks in some countries. Despite the fact that refugees them-selves are, in fact, the victims of terrorism, the refugees are being mistakenly viewed as terrorists.

Faced with the world’s largest post-war refugee crisis, Ja-pan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stated during the UN Summit in September 2016, “Japan will play a leading role in bringing solutions to the refugee and migrant problems by collaborating closely with the international community.” Japan’s approach

One person was forced to flee from his or her home ev-ery three seconds in 2016,” says the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the or-

ganization’s “Global Trends” report. In 2016, 65.6 million peo-ple were uprooted from their homes, about 300,000 more than in the previous year. The figure includes 22.5 million refugees, 40.3 million internally displaced persons, and 2.8 million asy-lum seekers.

One factor behind the record number of refugees and dis-placed people is the protracted conflict in Syria, which has caused more than 5 million Syrians to seek asylum in neigh-boring countries such as Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan, as well as in Europe. In Africa, the number of refugees escaping the conflict in South Sudan surpassed one million. In Asia, in ad-dition to the well-known and significant number of refugees from Afghanistan living in Iran and Pakistan, there are lesser-known but equally long-standing refugee populations, such as

Rebuilding the Lives of the Displaced

Refugees and Displaced People

OCTOBER 2017 JICA'S WORLD 3

to refugee assistance is characterized by the seamlessness of assistance: Japan provides urgently needed humanitarian aid while at the same time supporting host communities through development aid. For instance, JICA provided electrical train-ing for Syrian refugees to support their daily life in a refugee camp, as well as addressed Jordan’s lack of financial resources by extending Jordan a loan from Japanese official development assistance (ODA).

Many refugees have been living as refugees for significant lengths of time. For example, in 2016, around 67% of all ref-ugees have lived in exile for more than five years and some Afghan refugees remain uprooted for as long as 30 years or more. 14.5 million of the world’s refugees live in developing countries, of which 4.9 million are hosted by the least-devel-oped countries. Given these circumstances, JICA believes that in order to assist refugees, it is important to assist the host countries and communities with development aid so as to en-

hance their reception capacity. Indeed, this is precisely the area where JICA, with its long experience and accumulated know-how as the executing agency for Japanese ODA, can ef-fectively contribute.

In 2016, aiming to strengthen the self-resilience of refu-gees through education, JICA initiated a scholarship program for Syrian refugees to study in Japanese universities. Under this program, 100 Syrian refugees will have an opportunity to become graduate students in Japan. In addition, some Japa-nese organizations in the private sector as well as NGOs have begun providing private sponsorships for Syrian refugees to study in Japan.

Solving the refugee problem will not be easy, but JICA will keep collaborating with the relevant governments, the UN, NGOs, civil society, and the private sector as well as utilizing its expertise and experience to deliver development assistance to refugees.

Countries of origin (end-2016)

Source: UNHCR Global Trends 2016

Syria

Afghanistan

South Sudan

Somalia

Sudan

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Central African Rep.

Myanmar

Eritrea

Burundi

Refugee population (millions)

0 1 2 63 4 5

Countries of asylum (end-2016)

Turkey

Pakistan

Lebanon

Islamic Rep. of Iran

Uganda

Ethiopia

Jordan

Germany

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Kenya

Refugee population (millions)

0 1 2 3


Helping Brothers and Sisters of Neighboring Countries

Refugees and Displaced People : UGANDA

・ FEATURE ・

Children of South Sudanese refugees

in Boroli Settlement, Adjumani District of

West Nile Sub-Region.

ALL PH

OTO

S ON

PAGES 4-7: TA

KESHI KU

NO


INFLUX OF SOUTH SUDANESE REFUGEES: OVER 2000 PEOPLE ARRIVE IN UGANDA EVERY DAY

Once I drive through the heavy traffic jams of Kampala, the Ugandan capital, and make it out of the city, a land of natural beauty opens up before me: the gigantic Lake Victoria, the Nile River flow-ing out from the lake, and the vast prairies stretch-ing for miles. People on the street wave at me, a foreigner, with laid-back smiles on their faces.

Uganda is said to be the most generous coun-try for refugees. In fact, the country has received a great number of refugees since World War II from neighboring countries such as Sudan, the Demo-cratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and South Sudan. Uganda itself has experienced a civil war, which caused many of its citizens to flee to neighboring countries as refugees in the past. In 2006, it enacted a law to grant rights to refugees to move freely and to work. Ugandan people say that they broadly support this idea–it is just normal to help one another, they say, “Because we are broth-ers and sisters.”

Now, Uganda is facing a surge of refugees from South Sudan, which is shaking the entire nation. In 2011, South Sudan achieved independence, earning a nickname as “the youngest nation in the world.” However, in 2013, civil war broke out between forces supporting the President and forces loyal to the former Vice President. Following a resurgence of violence in July of 2016, the conflict spread into Equatoria, a region bordering with Uganda. As a re-sult, many people from South Sudan fled to north-ern Uganda.

By early August of 2017, the number of South Sudanese refugees residing in Uganda exceeded a million. Even now, over 2,000 South Sudanese flee into Uganda every day. Many are believed to be staying in Uganda without registering as refugees, seeking help from relatives living in Uganda.

Left: Lasu (center) is a South Sudanese refugee who lives in Bidibidi Settlement.Right: In Bidibidi Settlement, there are many expectant women and nursing mothers.

In response to this situation, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other international aid organizations are boosting emergency humanitarian aid activities in the refu-gee settlements. The government of Uganda pro-vides a plot of land to refugees, while humanitarian organizations assist refugees with basic needs such as shelter and food as well as access to safe drink-ing water and basic healthcare services. Yet, the soaring number of arriving refugees pauses great challenges for everyone.

Bidibidi Settlement is located in Yumbe District, West Nile Sub-Region, in the northwestern part of Uganda. Approximately 270,000 South Sudanese refugees—far above the initially estimated figure of 50,000—live in the settlement, which opened in August of 2016. Although there are white tents put up here and there, most refugees have built houses in Bidibidi. It is difficult to distinguish this settle-ment from any other Ugandan village nearby.

Life in Bidibidi is not easy and refugees seem to face many challenges. Lasu Justin, who worked at a healthcare center in South Sudan and had fled from South Sudan to Uganda in the past, became a refu-gee once again because of the current conflict. Lasu says, “In South Sudan, our lives, the lives of the peo-ple in Equatoria, were threatened. Life here in the settlement is safe, but food is becoming scarce, and there isn’t enough well water for all of us.” Merry Awate, who used to work at an NGO in South Sudan, says, “I don’t know when I can go back home. I need to find a job to support myself in Uganda.”

BUILDING THE CAPACITY OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO SUPPORT REFUGEE HOSTING COMMUNITIES

People in West Nile Sub-Region, where the ma-jority of South Sudanese refugees living in Uganda are being hosted, faced various challenges in access-

U ganda is a country in East Africa with a population of approximately 40 million. Blessed with bountiful nature, the country was once called “a pearl of Africa” by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. To-

day, a massive number of refugees are fleeing into Uganda from its neighbor-ing countries, especially from South Sudan. In response, Japan has launched a unique series of initiatives to help Uganda deal with the refugees.

Kampala

South Sudan

West Nile Sub-Region

Uganda

Boroli Settlement in Adjumani District. Tents and houses stand side by side in the settlement.


deal of hope on this project. Odur Benard, an offi-cial in the Office of the Prime Minister in charge of the development of northern Uganda, says, “Even if we receive funding from aid organizations, it can be wasted if the government fails to carry out projects in a systematic way. With this project, we aim to strengthen local governments’ capacity for develop-ment and generate synergy with other development projects in every field.”

After district officials in Acholi Sub-Region formulated a community-based development plan, JICA began funding 28 pilot projects emanat-ing from this plan. These pilot projects are drawn through collaborative efforts of district develop-ment officials and community members in the dis-trict.

Last March, for instance, residents in a village chosen for a pilot project used funds provided by JICA to purchase six cows for traditional cow plow-ing. Isa Imazato, a JICA expert supporting this pilot project, says, “In the past, even when community residents asked district officials to purchase cows, they did not really have a specific plan for how they would use the cows. So in this project, we ask them to make a detailed plan, like what’s the size of the land you would like to cultivate using the cows, how and when you are going to train them, and how you are going to keep them healthy, things like that.”

Such pilot projects to implement community-based planning are also envisioned in West Nile Sub-Region. Kubo, the JICA expert, says, “Com-pared with Acholi Sub-Region, I believe that West Nile Sub-Region is culturally and ethnically more diverse. Some villages have practiced cattle plowing while others have not. The number of arriving refu-gees also varies depending on the location. While ensuring that no one is left behind and that refu-gees are included in local planning, district officials and community members have to carefully select pi-

ing services and basic infrastructure even before the influx of refugees. With the arrival of refugees, the region now needs not only humanitarian aid but also development support for host communities, in order for them to continue assisting refugees.

Here is one example. While many refugees live in settlements where humanitarian aid is limited, more and more refugees now reside in local com-munities in Uganda. This puts strain on the social infrastructure in the communities, such as schools and hospitals. Dalili Moses, Deputy Chief Admin-istrative Officer of Adjumani District, where about 50% of the population is comprised of South Suda-nese refugees, says, “There aren’t enough schools. Classrooms are jam-packed, with more than 100 children in just one room.”

However, it is difficult for the government of Uganda to deal with all of the requests from such communities. Kaggwa Andrew, who works at the Ministry of Local Government, says, “There are so many requests from those local communities and we are way too underbudgeted. We need to priori-tize these requests and select development projects that are most effective.”

That is why JICA has been targeting capacity building of local governments in West Nile Sub-Region. JICA has carried out a similar project in the neighboring Acholi Sub-Region as part of the recon-struction of northern Uganda, which had been af-fected by civil war. This time, taking advantage of past experience and accumulated know-how, JICA aims to use its capacity building project to support district administrators in designing and formulat-ing community-based district development plans not only in Acholi Sub-Region, but also in West Nile Sub-Region, the area most South Sudanese refugees flow into.

“In this project, we encourage the administra-tors of counties in the province to use a simple de-velopment planning tool so that they can implement higher priority projects,” explains Yusuke Kubo, a JICA expert who leads the project. “With this tool, they sort all data—such as the population of each village, the number of water wells, the condition of the roads, and so on—by category on a sheet of paper called an inventory sheet. And then they de-termine the priority of each request from villages by using objective criteria to grade the requests.” Hav-ing succeeded in utilizing these tools in Acholi Sub-Region, JICA continues to use them to train govern-ment officials in West Nile Sub-Region.

The Ugandan government is also pinning a great

Kubo asks Aruda District administrators

about the progress made with the

dissemination of plannning tools.

Yusuke Kubo, a JICA development expert, is interviewed by a local radio station.

Refugees and Displaced People : UGANDA

・ FEATURE ・

Isa Imazato, JICA's livelihood expert, visits a village where a pilot project is taking place. “The administrator of this county did a great job,” says Imazato.

Villagers practice cow plowing under a pilot project.


lot projects that meet the needs of diverse groups. ”

DISSEMINATION OF RICE CULTIVATION HELPS IMPROVE REFUGEE LIVELIHOODS

Because of its moderate climate among other reasons, Uganda has been self-sufficient for basic crops. However, the sudden increase in the number of refugees from South Sudan is straining food sup-ply in West Nile Sub-Region.

To alleviate the strain, JICA is conducting ag-ricultural programs to improve food production. In 2011, it started a rice cultivation project, and in 2014, UNHCR joined in as a partner. The proj-ect promotes dissemination of an upland rice strain called Nerica. Under the project, JICA provides 1 kilogram of Nerica seed to each farmer who par-ticipates in special training. These seeds can yield a harvest of 50 kilograms of rice seed in the first season.

Nerica’s advantages include its high yield, short growth duration, and drought tolerance. It is ben-eficial not only for securing food stock in the region but also for improving the livelihoods of Neirca pro-ducing farmers because of its high monetary value. Lalia Jesca, an official in charge of agriculture in Adjumani District of West Nile Sub-Region, says, “We experienced a terrible drought last year, but Nerica yielded a good harvest. Rice sells for twice as much as cassava, so farmers are happy about it.”

To date, JICA has conducted rice cultivation training for 1400 people, including refugees, farm-ers in the host communities, and extension work-ers. Waran Simon, a South Sudanese refugee who lives in Boroli Settlement, Adjumani District, par-ticipated in a training program designed for trainers at the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI). After completing the program, Waren began to pass on knowledge of how to cultivate rice

to his fellow refugees in the settlement.Waran had lived in Uganda for 27 years as a

refugee, from age 7 until he returned to his home country in 2013. But the conflict recurred im-mediately after his return, forcing him to go back to Uganda once again. “I had to pay a big sum of money to rent a plot of land from a Ugandan land-lord. But my farm was also once badly damaged by cows from another village. That was terrible,” says Waran, recalling the past with a bitter expression on his face.

Then he took me to the hut where he keeps his produce. There, 700 kilograms of rice were piled up in bags: harvest yielded from the 1 kilogram of rice seed provided by JICA two years ago. Waran pointed at an educational poster on the wall of the storage house and said, “It’s a poster about rice cultivation, which I got at the training program. My friends and I have practiced rice farming little by little, using explanations in this poster.” While he was talking, other members of his rice-growing group gathered around us. They seemed to have great confidence in Waran, who has worked hard to overcome many hardships.

In June of 2017, the government of Uganda and the United Nations jointly held a Solidarity Summit in Kampala. Some 500 people including delegations from various countries around the world, the UN and NGOs, as well as Ugandan local government officials participated in the summit, showing sup-port for refugees and refugee-hosting countries and communities. At a side event, Japan hosted a session where local authorities explained how they support-ed refugees in their community.

Today, the refugee problem continues to be an uphill battle. To tackle the problem, it is vital to go beyond existing humanitarian aid schemes to create a new philosophy of assistance that improves liveli-hoods for both refugees and host communities.

Waran teaches his fellow refugees how to grow rice using a rice cultivation poster provided by Japan.

Lalia (left), an agricultural official, Waran (second from left), and refugees in the settlement.

Obada (on the right) after a peer counseling session. Not only disabled Syrian refugees but also other patients at hospitals in Amman are starting to receive counseling. Obada states firmly, “Being self-reliant does not mean that you take care of everything all alone. It means that you take the initiative to decide what you do.”


Here Our Lives Go On

SUDDENLY I BECAME DISABLED AND A REFUGEE OVERNIGHTWhat were you doing in your home country before ar-riving in Jordan?

“I was a high school student in Daraa in the southern part of Syria. I loved playing sports, and my dream was to become a football trainer.”If I may ask, how did you become disabled?

“I was shot near a checkpoint and became dis-abled, but nothing has changed. I’m the same person now as I was in the past. I want to set up an organiza-tion that will protect the rights of people living with disabilities.”

As he talks about his past and future, the young man who lost movement of his lower limbs speaks in a calm, dignified voice.

In 2012, Obada (aged 21) came to Jordan with his family after fleeing the conflict in Syria. He re-ceived surgery in Jordan for his gunshot wound, and he now spends his days in a wheelchair. Two years after his operation, he learned about JICA. “I heard there was a workshop advocating for equal-ity for people living with disabilities, with Japanese experts as its organizers. I was not sure what being disabled would mean for my life, so I thought that I would like to join.”

Disability Equality Training (DET) is a work-shop-based training program where disabled people act as facilitators. The facilitators lead discussions that help a diverse group of participants uncover hidden barriers that often exist in society, and they also teach participants the skills needed to remove these barriers.

After completing JICA’s DET program as a par-ticipant, Obada enrolled in a training course to be-come a facilitator. He also completed the curriculum of another training course to become a peer coun-selor to help people living with disabilities adjust mentally and become self-reliant. Now Obada works as a counselor at an Amman-based NGO that helps refugees, primarily with disabilities, who have fled to Jordan’s capital city from Syria.

Similarly, Obada’s friend, a victim of a shooting in Syria that left his legs paralyzed, works as a peer counselor. “Looking at Obada taking part in JICA’s training,” he says, “I thought to myself, ‘Despite my disabilities, I can still go outside and help other peo-ple.’”

ACKNOWLEDGING DISABILITIES IS THE FIRST STEPJICA’s support for Syrian refugees with disabili-

ties started in 2014. At that time, JICA was already supporting Syrian refugees fleeing into Jordan and the communities that had accepted displaced people. “We decided to extend our assistance to disabled ref-ugees because assistance to people with disabilities generally tends to be overlooked,” says a Japanese staff member at JICA Jordan office, who has been working for this operation since its beginning. With her two years of experience in Syria as a member of Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV), she speaks Arabic fluently.

On another front, Nizar, a Syrian national who had been involved in JICA’s projects in Syria, works tirelessly for Syrian refugees in Jordan. Nizar spent

・ FEATURE ・

Refugees and Displaced People : JORDAN

A mong the Syrian refugees who were forced to leave their home country and live in Jordan are people with physical disabili-

ties. As they confront their own hardships and start rebuilding their lives, they are also building new relationships and helping others. JICA’s as-sistance amplifies their strength and compassion by helping them support others in need.

Amman

Syria

Jordan

Mohamad of Jordan’s Paralympic Committee (on the right) teaches table tennis. “Most of the women and girls who participate have congenital disabilities, but some of them were able to lift their arms after practicing for two hours every week. Together with the girls’ mothers, we form a team to support one another!”


time with JICA’s local staff members in Jordan, gath-ering information on the whereabouts of disabled people and their families who could use JICA’s sup-port. “Many of the Syrian refugees lost their ties to society as they were isolated in accommodation cen-ters and other facilities,” Nizar explains. “I wanted to give them an opportunity to rebuild connections with communities, and so I asked them to join in JICA’s DET.” He says that at first, most of them de-clined. “Even those who did come to the training fo-cused on receiving medicine that would heal their physical wounds,” he says.

JICA’s assistance originally started with two ac-tivities: training people to become DET facilitators and cultivating peer counselors. These activities lat-er broadened. The assistance evolved into analyzing and solving the problems of people living with dis-abilities, and it is now led mostly by eleven people, including Obada and Bashar, who have actively par-ticipated in the training sessions. The Japanese staff member, who has always stood by them and voiced their concerns based on her conversations with them in Arabic, reflects back on that time: “We came in with a blueprint of what we thought JICA should be aiming for, but instead we determined it would be most effective to focus our support on participants’ initiatives, because we wanted them to develop and spread their own ideas.”

ACTIVITIES EXPAND IN THE SPIRIT OF MUTUAL ASSISTANCEThe disabled refugees submitted a proposal for

two programs: sports activities and living assistance for people with disabilities. Under the sports activi-ties program, a weekly session of table tennis is now held at a rented gymnasium of Jordan’s Paralympic Committee. This activity started with a group of nine men but later expanded to include ping-pong days for women at the request of women with dis-abilities. Currently, sixty people participate in the sports program.

On the day of sports activities for women, moth-ers accompanying their daughters spend time relax-ing near the ping-pong tables where they talk, ex-change information, and learn from one another. One mother said: “I came here after hearing about ping-pong from my peer counselor. Before we start-ed coming, my daughter hesitated to even go out, but now she has so much fun playing table tennis, and she has a much more positive outlook. Looking at how she has changed, I began to think that her

disability was no longer a negative factor. We all be-came friends here.”

Among the group of mothers is the Japanese staff member from the JICA Jordan office, chatting with them about local Syrian dishes. Looking at her in the distance, Nizar says with a smile, “You can see why everyone likes her so much.”

As part of the living assistance program, dis-abled refugees collected information about 17 orga-nizations that provide daily-living support for people with disabilities and the information was compiled into a “Guidebook to Services for People with Dis-abilities,” completed in May of 2016. They organized workshops, inviting various groups of people includ-ing representatives of refugee assistance organiza-tions to disseminate the guidebook. They also made a formal proposal stressing the importance of in-corporating the perspectives of disabled people into various assistance efforts.

In August of the same year, experts invited from Japan held an advanced training course for peer counselors. “I was worried about holding this course in a foreign country because I am quadriplegic,” says a Japanese expert who led the training. “But I de-cided to join, thinking that I wanted to be of help to Syrian refugees who live with disabilities. At first, I had difficulty conveying the idea that peer counsel-ors should listen without passing judgment or giv-ing advice, but with practical exercises, the trainees learned how to be skilled active listeners.” The ex-pert hopes that with the continuing efforts from dis-abled Syrian refugees, a culture of peer counseling will take root in Jordan.

Just imagine the scene: A yellow carpet of cano-la flowers spread before your eyes, the fragrance of apricots, and voices chatting in a laid-back at-mosphere. These are the memories that JICA staff members preserve from their days in Syria. And this is why they see their work as more than providing assistance to groups of refugees and disabled people: JICA’s staff members seek to understand the needs of each individual.

Uprooted people continue to live in a new land, hand in hand, with their heads held up high.

Waed serves as a peer counselor and a DET facilitator. When Waed became friends with a Jordanian facilitator, it opened the door for two Jordanian women living with disabilities to join the women’s table tennis day.

At the Zaatari refugee camp, refugees with limited knowledge of electricity

were installing electrical wires in the shelters without any outside help.

This resulted in frequent accidents, including electric shocks, and facility

malfunctions. In collaboration with Jordan’s National Electric Power Company

and the United Nations High Commissioner

for Refugees (UNHCR), JICA launched a

technical training session in August 2016,

targeting 200 refugees living in the camp.

Trainees, who attended a three-week session

at a facility run by the electric company, are

expected to help some 80,000 people in the

refugee camp by providing wiring services

while earning a livelihood for themselves as

technicians. Moreover, the experience they

gain in the camp will be beneficial in future

reconstruction efforts back home in Syria.

Training Electricians to Wire Syrian Refugee Camps

Wiring work at the Zaatari refugee camp


I n 2016, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end the country’s civil war, which

had lasted for more than 50 years. While the country is making great strides in its peace-build-ing efforts, enormous negative impacts from the civil war linger across the country. One of the challenges the nation faces is rebuilding the lives of people who were forcibly displaced from their homeland by conflicts and violence.

JAPAN CONTINUES ITS SUPPORT FOR THE WORLD’S LARGEST INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS

November 30, 2016, became a historic day for Colombia. On that day, the world watched as the government of Colombia and the leftwing guer-rilla group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colom-bia (FARC) signed a peace agreement to end the 50-year-long civil war.

Overcoming Conflict to Build True Peace Again

While Colombia is about to launch a full-scale effort to rebuild the nation, the country faces sev-eral challenges, and rehabilitation of its internally displaced persons is one of them, says Eri Komukai, JICA’s Senior Advisor. “In Colombia, the number of internally displaced persons who lost their homes due to violence by the paramilitaries is said to sur-pass 6 million,” she says. “Many of them flew into urban areas and live in houses illegally built on lands unfit for human habitation, such as hillsides.” Komu-kai says it is necessary to build institution and a safe environment in order for people to get back to their normal lives.

During the 1960s, leftwing guerrilla groups in-cluding FARC emerged, seeking to correct social in-equality. The ongoing civil war left a population of ci-vilians in a perpetual state of internal displacement. In response, in 1997, the government of Colombia required local governments to formulate plans to im-prove the lives of those displaced. In 2009, Colombia partnered with Japan to start participatory develop-

・ FEATURE ・

Refugees and Displaced People : COLOMBIA

Bogota

Colombia

Kurihara (right) interviews a coffee

farmer who has returned home

about the situation and problems in

Cundinamarca Department, Colombia.

Kogure (right) teaches system

developers in charge of land

information management

how to ensure information

security.

CMAC and JICA visited minefields in Colombia in February and March of 2017. Landmines laid during the civil war prevent internally displaced persons from returning home.

A training program held in Iwaki city, Fukushima prefecture, in 2015. Participants visited an organic cotton field.


ment projects that bolster local governments’ capac-ity to cater to the needs of the displaced.

In 2011, Colombia formulated an official des-ignation for “victims of civil war” and enacted a groundbreaking law that stipulated restitution of despoiled lands to the rightful owners. The Special Administrative Unit for Management of Despoiled and Abandoned Lands Restitution was established within the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Devel-opment, and the unit launched a project to develop a land information management system. However, the system requires those who request restitution to reg-ister their personal data and information about how their land was seized. If the information leaked, it could endanger their lives. Japan decided to provide technical assistance to strengthen the unit’s capacity for information security management.

Yoichi Kogure, an expert who took part in this assistance project, says, “We held seminars for engi-neers in charge of system development and also for workers in charge of operation and management of the system. We invited them to a seminar in Japan to teach them how Japanese government institutions handle land management.”

It also occurred to Kogure that the displaced Co-lombians returning to land in need of rehabilitation had things in common with the Japanese who had lost their land in the Great East Japan Earthquake. He decided to invite a group of these Colombians to a training program in tsunami-hit Iwaki City in Fu-kushima Prefecture.

The twelve Colombian participants learned about land rehabilitation programs run by the Japanese government. They also observed activities in the pri-vate sector such as helping farmers who had been forced to abandon vegetable farming due to repu-tational damage switch to organic cotton farming, as well as encouraging citizen participation in the use of renewable energy. “The participants learned the importance of cooperation among citizens, not just of assistance provided by the government,” says Yukiyo Yamada, an expert who accompanied the participants throughout the training. “They seemed to have gained some ideas about helping displaced people return home and earn a new livelihood.”

“DEVIL WEAPONS” , OR LANDMINES STILL THREATEN LIVESToshiaki Kurihara, a rural development expert,

has been dispatched to Colombia to work for live-lihood improvement of those who have returned to their homeland. He works with residents of the res-tituted lands and helps them rebuild their villages. Furthermore, in twelve regions of Colombia, a proj-ect called “One Village, One Product” is building up unity within communities and strengthening their economic independence. Rural development know-how gained in these regions is expected to contrib-ute to the improvement of returnees’ lives. “The civil war started because there was social inequality to begin with,” Komukai says. “Colombia must develop an environment in which those who have returned home can earn a proper livelihood. Failure to do so may cause people to flow back to urban areas, or may even become a new source of conflict,” she stresses.

Another problem looms. Full-scale removal of

landmines, which are still causing many casualties, is yet to begin. To solve this problem, the Colombian government is especially interested in the expertise of the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC). Ja-pan has been supporting CMAC since 1999. In Febru-ary and March of 2017, CMAC members and related JICA officials visited minefields and training centers in Colombia to seek ways to build an assistance pro-gram through a “south-south cooperation” approach between Cambodia and Colombia. Komukai says, “We still don’t have a complete map of landmine fields in Colombia. We must work fast to ensure the safety of the land so that the internally displaced persons can go back to their homeland.”

Supporting the displaced requires a long-term perspective. To tackle these diverse challenges, it is important for Japan to apply the lessons learned over the years of development work as effectively as possible.

Farmers who have returned home. Although many displaced people have requested land restitution, only 50% of total requests have been processed so far because the Ministry of National Defense has been unable to confirm the security of the land in many cases.


THE IMPACT OF CIVIL WAR ON A WELL-DEVELOPED EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM The ancient Syrian capital Damascus is one of the

world’s oldest cities. Damascus University, established in 1923, has a history of almost a century. Damascus University and the University of Aleppo, established in 1958, are considered top academic institutions in the Middle East. They have produced many of the region’s prominent business leaders and politicians. Syria has historically had a high level of education among Mid-

dle Eastern countries, boasting a primary education enrollment rate of almost 100% and a literacy rate ex-ceeding 95%. That was before the civil war.

Currently, it is said that Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan number about two million, one million, and 0.6 million, respectively. These are offi-cial numbers registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the actual numbers could be even higher. Lebanon’s population

Young Syrian refugees studying in a school inside a refugee camp in Jordan. This generation will support the future of Syria (Photo by Kyo Shimizu)

For the future of their homelandWhile the Syrian civil war drags on, many well-educated young

Syrians who would have become the pillars of their society have fled

the country. Japan has significant experience accepting international

students from all over the world. The Japanese government has

announced its intention to accept Syrian students to study in Japan,

so that they might become the leaders of the next generation.

A Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer teaching children with disabilities. (Photo by Jiro Nakahara, 2006)

Syrian

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tu d e n t s


is 4.5 million and Jordan’s is 6.5 million. It is easy to imagine the huge burden placed on the recipient coun-tries to accept and provide appropriate administrative services for such large numbers of refugees. Many chil-dren and young refugees are also deprived of the op-portunity to study.

Once the civil war ends, Syria will surely need hu-man resources to rebuild the country. Through various programs such as the Project for Human Resources De-velopment Scholarship (JDS), JICA has invited many people from all over the world to study in Japan. These students are expected to return to their own countries and become the leaders of the next generation there. Within this context, a new program called the Japa-nese Initiative for the Future of Syrian Refugees (JISR) began last year to support the capacity development of young Syrians.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced this initiative before the Ise-shima Summit, which took place in 2016. Under the program, Japan, through JICA and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, will accept thirty Syrian stu-dents a year over a 5-year period for up to 150 Syrian students who will receive an opportunity to study in Japan: JICA will take care of up to 100 Syrian students over the next five years. To be eligible for the program, an applicant should hold either a bachelor’s degree or equivalent academic experience and be registered as a refugee by UNHCR in Lebanon or Jordan. The applica-tion process for the first cohort began at the end of No-vember of 2016. There were 120 applications, six times the number of available places. The fields of intended study varied from agriculture to engineering to Japa-nese language and culture, but most applicants chose a science-related major. The successful applicants ar-rived in Japan this summer to prepare for the new aca-demic year starting in September.

PROTECTING STUDENTS AGAINST UNCERTAINTY In general, when a citizen runs into trouble over-

seas, the embassy or the consulate of the citizen’s coun-try will assist his or her safe return home.

However, this is not the case for refugees. Particu-larly for Syrian citizens, due to the ongoing civil war, once they flee the country as refugees, it becomes dif-ficult to obtain a guarantee of status from the state. Moreover, when refugees leave the country of refuge, there is no guarantee of reentry.

A staff member in charge of coordinating the pro-gram commented, “In the past, most students we ac-cepted were government officials who were given endorsements from their country. After studying in Japan, they returned home to work for their country. However, this is the first case for us to accept refugees, and we needed to be considerate of their status.” To prepare a flawless system to accept Syrian students, JICA collaborated closely not only with UNHCR but also with universities that have experience admitting

Before the conflict, most Syrians were educated and many female students studied electronics. (Photo by Sanae Numata, 2004)

exchange students. A unique feature of this program is that it allows

students to bring along their spouse and children when they come to Japan. The staff member explains, “Sometimes, other exchange students bring their fam-ily to Japan during their study in Japan. In principle, we recommend that students establish themselves and settle down in Japan for at least six months before in-viting their family. However, once refugees step out of the country of refuge to study in Japan, they may not be able to return to reunite with their family. We there-fore give them the option of bringing their family to Japan from the beginning.” It is expected that many of the students may wish to bring their families to Japan. JICA’s policy, therefore, is to do its utmost so that the students and their families can adapt to Japan’s living environment with support from universities and local communities.

JICA is also considering how best to support the stu-dents’ job searches after graduation. Under this pro-gram, the students can study in Japan for a total of three years, including a one-year preparation period and two years to earn a master’s degree. During the three years, the students are expected to study Japa-nese language and take part in an internship program at Japanese companies. Internship programs are al-ready in place under the Master’s Degree and Intern-ship Program of the African Business Education Ini-tiative for Youth (the ABE Initiative). Many African students who studied under this program are working in Japanese companies in Japan or in their own coun-tries. There is no doubt that they will become a bridge between Africa and Japan.

The staff member explains, “For many Syrian stu-dents, Japan is a far-away country. For many Japanese, Syria is a country of conflicts that they do not know well. We hope that the relationships that Syrian stu-dents living in Japan will build with Japanese students and the local community will become the basis for deeper exchanges between the two countries.”

Nobody knows when the Syrian conflict will end. Meanwhile, we begin building bridges for the day when peace comes.


・ TRENDS ・

O n July 20 and 21, 2017, JICA and the World Bank Group (WBG) held the Fourth JICA-WBG High-Level Dialogue

at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C. The heads of the two agencies co-chaired the meeting, in which further partnership be-tween the agencies was discussed.

JICA President Shinichi Kitaoka and WBG Pres-ident Jim Yong Kim led the discussion of seven topics, which encompassed three thematic issues and four regions. The three thematic is-sues were health, focusing on universal health coverage (UHC) and nutrition; infrastructure and resilience, namely sustainable urban devel-opment and resilience/disaster risk reduction (DRR) and reconstruction from crises and disas-ters; and the private sector. The four regions are

N ew textbooks that were developed with JICA’s technical cooperation have been distributed to primary schools through-

out Myanmar. When the new school year began on June 1, approximately 1.3 million first-graders started learning with the new textbooks.

Myanmar underwent a transition from military rule to democratic government in 2011, and train-ing people to build a new state is an urgent issue. For many years, JICA has supported the promo-tion of a child-centered approach in Myanmar. This approach emphasizes methods that enable children to learn by themselves. However, the textbooks formerly used in classrooms were de-veloped nearly two decades ago and reflected a rote style of learning.

Since 2014, a JICA technical project has sup-

E very year since 1995, JICA has been invit-ing journalists from overseas to Japan in order to deepen public awareness of Ja-

pan and JICA’s projects in countries where JICA has been active. This year, ten newspaper report-ers from as many ASEAN countries visited Japan between June 18 and July 1.

As ASEAN countries continue to experience marked population and economic growth, their cities face growing urban problems. This year’s program encouraged participants to report on Japanese initiatives that may be applicable to solving problems in the participant’s home coun-tries. Participants visited facilities where Japanese technology is used, such as water supply facilities and waste incineration plants. The journalists also reported from Higashi-Matsushima, Miyagi pre-

East Asia and the Pacific, South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

The private sector was newly added as a topic of discussion. The International Finance Corpo-ration (IFC) from the WBG led the discussion, which examined the mobilization of private sector finance, reflecting the enormous gap in development finance.

As a result of the meeting, the two agen-cies agreed to strengthen their partnership in private-sector finance and development; to promote UHC globally, including in Africa; to work jointly on urban development; to enhance collaboration in resilience building and private sector development in South East Asia, the Pa-cific, and South Asia; and to work toward stabili-zation of MENA. The two agencies will continue to hold regular discussions at various levels to further strengthen their partnership.

ported the development of new textbooks in all nine subjects for all grades (one to five) at the primary level. The new textbooks are designed to help all students learn to observe things with their own eyes, think, communicate and coop-erate with each other in order to improve their own lives and society. The textbooks also aim to stimulate a spirit of curiosity and fun in learning. Teacher’s guides for all subjects were developed and distributed to the teachers, and training was carried out throughout the country for current teachers as well as at teacher training colleges to teach educators to promote independent student learning.

This project brought in approximately 40 Japa-nese education experts to provide multifaceted technical support in various areas such as subject content, effective teaching and learning methods, textbook editing and design, and teacher training.

fecture, on the state of recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake.

On June 20, the journalists visited the Tokyo Metro Comprehensive Learning and Training Cen-ter to learn about urban transport management. Tokyo Metro opened the facility in April of 2016 to educate its staff and improve its training. After listening to an explanation of the center’s role, the journalists observed actual training on emer-gency responses. They learned how Tokyo Metro keeps trains running on time and in a safe and se-cure manner.

Journalist Tin Aung Kyaw of the newspaper The Voice in Myanmar pointed out that flooding dur-ing torrential rains and waste management pro-cessing were problems in Yangon and elsewhere. He said that based on his reporting in Japan, he wanted to write articles with actionable informa-tion that might be put to use by the Myanmar government in the future.

WBG President Jim Yong Kim (right) and JICA President Shinichi Kitaoka

Students look delighted to have new textbooks

A training session at the Tokyo Metro Comprehensive Learning and Training Center

JICA-WBG Hold High-Level Dialogue

New Textbooks Delivered to Primary Schools throughout Myanmar

Myanmar

ASEAN Journalists Report on Initiatives to Solve Japan's Urban Problems

ASEAN

VoicesFROM THE FIELD


Sawsan HaddadProgram Officer

Shereen Abu HweijProgram Officer

Tamer Abu MariamProgram Officer

JICA Jordan Office

The app is an electronic mother-and-child health handbook that functions as a portable medical re-cord. The app also sends appointment notifications for health centers and child vaccinations, providing better quality health services.

“The number of mothers who use this app is es-timated at 100,000 in Jordan within the first year alone, and similar numbers are expected once the system is installed at UNRWA health centers in sur-rounding countries and areas,” Tamer says. “This is one way to start making a change to make the world a better place.”

Sawsan Haddad is in charge of the volunteers who work in refugee camps as teachers of art, mu-sic, physical education, youth activities, and environ-ment. One of her priorities is to build bridges of good communication among the volunteers, the schools, and society as she conducts workshops and other ac-tivities. The workshops directly involve teachers, stu-dents, and parents with the broader goal of encourag-ing good manners and positive behavior throughout society by involving regular people. “Change is dif-ficult,” Sawsan says, “But volunteers are able to make the change. Volunteers are role models in our soci-ety.” She adds proudly, “That is why their program is one of the most successful in the world.”

As refugees continue to leave Syria, Jordan is tak-ing in more of them than most of its neighbors in the Middle East. Three Jordanian nationals on the staff of JICA Jordan office are making special efforts to im-prove the lives of refugees there.

Shereen Abu Hweij strongly believes that women are equal partners in making a better society. She is working on a project to help Palestinian and Syrian refugees earn a better livelihood.

She trains refugees, particularly women, in mak-ing and marketing products that they can sell to earn income – eventually, they hope, enough to sustain businesses that can support them and their families. This form of economic independence spreads aware-ness throughout the camp society of the importance of empowering women. Shereen also uses it as an op-portunity to teach men to be supportive of women.

For Shereen, working on refugee issues has been an enriching experience, as it helped shape her un-derstanding of the difference between humanitarian response and developmental planning.

Tamer Abu Mariam is an IT expert who is also in charge of a volunteer program. In cooperation with UNRWA, he applied his technical expertise to devel-oping a smartphone application for mothers in Pales-tinian refugees camps.

Cover: A South Sudanese refugee hanging

the laundry in Bidibidi Settlement,

northwestern part of Uganda ©Takeshi Kuno

Photo on pages 2-3: Syrian refugee children living in Zaatari

refugee camp, Jordan ©Kyo Shimizu

Nibancho Center Bldg

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Tel: +81-3-5226-6660

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is published by JICA

Publisher:Kiyoshi Amada

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Public Relations

The Japan International Cooperation Agency(JICA) is one of the world’s largest bilateraldevelopment organization, operating in some 150 countries to help some of the globe’smost vulnerable people.

The humanitarian community is under exceptional pressure. Re-cent years have witnessed a series of major new emergencies, includ-ing those triggered by the conflicts in countries such as the Central Af-rican Republic, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen. At the same time, long-standing crises in countries such as Afghanistan, the Democratic Re-public of Congo, Iraq and Somalia have remained unresolved.

A disturbing outcome of these developments has been a rapid in-crease in the number of refugees and displaced people around the world. According to UNHCR, around 65 million people have now been uprooted by violence and human rights violations, the largest number since the organization was established in 1951.

While humanitarian agencies have done everything they can to respond to these events, they are struggling to do so. The funding available to them is well below what is needed. They lack the capacity to cope with so many simultaneous emergencies. And in a number of situations, ongoing violence and the restrictions imposed by the parties to armed conflicts make it impossible for aid organizations to gain access to the people who are most vulnerable.

Urgent action is needed to address this troubling situ-ation, and Japan has an important role to play in that process.

First, as one of the world’s leading humanitarian do-

Dr Jeff CrispRefugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford

nors, the country can continue to provide the emergency funding that is needed to ensure that the immediate needs of refugees and displaced people are properly met.

Second, Japan should support the introduction of longer-term and developmental approaches in situations where large numbers of people have been uprooted, so as to support the economy, infrastruc-ture and environment of areas that have experienced mass influxes. In this respect, JICA’s experience will be of particular value.

Third, Japan can make use of its unrivalled skills in design and innovation to promote the use of new approaches and more effective technologies in the response to humanitarian emergencies.

Fourth, and in the spirit of international cooperation and responsibility-sharing, Japan should explore the pos-sibility of providing a greater number of refugee resettle-ment places, thereby relieving the pressure placed on the world’s less prosperous states, where the vast majority of refugees are to be found.

Finally, Japan has a continuing role to play in the realm of preventive diplomacy, helping to avert, mitigate and resolve the armed conflicts and human rights viola-tions that force people to flee. In pursuing these objec-tives, every effort must be made to build upon Japan’s proud record of promoting human security, peaceful co-existence and humanitarian norms in the most troubled parts of the world.

O PINION

Refugees and Displaced People:How Japan can Help

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