Activities in Laos
Collection of basic information and introduction of a management system of common resources / Legal training workshops and action against overdevelopment
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Activities in Palestine
The Israeli occupation continues to threaten the human rights and lives of Palestinians. Women also face other difficulties such as domestic violence and restriction on activities outside the home in a “patriarchal, male-dominated Arab society.” JVC works to help women and youths achieve social and economic independence in East Jerusalem that is a strong conservative society. In Gaza, which is under blockade, repeated air strikes have failed to restore infrastructure or improve poverty rates, and more than 60% of the residents need support. Because of the severe malnutrition of children, the program aims to spread knowledge to mothers about parenting that can help improve nutrition and development, to create a system that facilitates children’s access to medical services.
Activities in Sudan
In 2011, a conflict broke out in South Kordofan State, displacing thousands of people and causing a serious divide between the people living in Sudanese government-controlled area, Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North (SPLM-N) held territories, and Sudanese refugee camps in South Sudan. Some progress had been made toward democratization and conflict resolution after the fall of Omar al-Bashir’s regime in 2019; however, the 2021 coup d’etat virtually regressed the peace process. Humanitarian support is limited in Kadugli, the state capital of South Kordofan and the continuous receiver of internally displaced people (IDPs), Yida refugee camp, a mostly Sudanese (Nuba) settlement in South Sudan, as well as in SPLM-N held territories. The situation for the socially vulnerable, especially children, remains harsh…
Activities in South Africa
In South Africa, about 60% of the population struggles in poverty while the unemployment rate among the younger generations exceeds 50%. With 7.1 million people tested HIV-positive, which is by far the largest number in the world, the country continues to see ‘AIDS orphans’ who lost their parents due to HIV/AIDS. Lacking fundamental support from adults in the communities, such children from poor backgrounds in rural areas face lots of challenges in their daily lives, even just in securing food. We work in Mphego village, Thulamela municipality, Vhembe district, Limpopo Province and help such orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) through supporting a facility called the Drop-in Center (DIC), which is a publicly operated space run by care volunteers, a group of people consisting mostly of women in the community.
Activities in Laos
In Laos, more than 60% of the population resides in rural areas, living a life dependent on nature. Common resources such as land, forests, and rivers are the basis of local people’s lives. However, with the development of plantations, the land has been expropriated from the people, and the forests have been cut without their consent. In addition, the forests have been diminishing without being noticed because the community people grow cash crops themselves. To prevent the expropriation of resources and amend overdevelopment, we support sustainable management and use of the common resources from a long-term perspective of villagers, setting a high value on “villager-centered”.
Activities in Yemen
In Yemen, a civil war has been continuing since 2015 between Ansar Allah (Houthis), who are supported by Iran and control the north including the capital Sanaa, and the interim government which is supported by coalition forces led by Saudi Arabia and rules the southeast. Under a situation that could be called “a great powers proxy war,” Iran and Saudi Arabia moved to normalize diplomatic relations in March 2023. However, despite the war being said to be the “world’s worst humanitarian crisis,” it has become a “Forgotten War” due to little interest of the international community. A total of 21.6 million people, which is more than two-thirds of Yemen’s population, need assistance.
Activities in Korea
As Japanese-Korean relations continue their stagnation on the basis of historical tensions, the doubling of defense expenditure and acquisition of counter strike capability announced in the Three Security Documents on account of the ever more frequent missiles fired from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) have aggravated the “East Asia Emergency”, causing the vision of a peaceful future to get murkier day by day. Within Japan, there has been no progress toward solving the exclusion that Koreans face in our society, and hate crimes against Korean schools are getting worse. Within these circumstances, we, another member of East Asia, aim to establish the foundations of peacebuilding not between two governments, but between two peoples.
Activities in Japan
The background of the world problems we want to solve is something that goes past borders and are closely related to each other. To overcome challenges through connections between fellow citizens, as well as to build a world where everyone is cherished, JVC regards as important “enlarging the ring of international cooperation”.
Emergency Assistance
In addition to the regular activities at our project sites, JVC offers temporary assistance to those countries or areas where emergency aid is required. In 2022, we conducted emergency assistance in three countries, Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Syria. In Afghanistan, we supported the activities of a local NGO working on girls’ education. In South Sudan, we provided emergency support to evacuees from village attacks. During the Turkey-Syria earthquake, we delivered aid to the Syrian side, where aid is difficult to reach.
Research and Advocacy
In response to exploitation and conflict exacerbated by development wherein those affected lose the right to choose their own circumstances with their own hands, we are active in survey research and policy recommendations advocating for the right to self-determination and restoration of human rights. We have been particularly active regarding the Mozambique’s Nacala Economic Corridor Development and have been vigilant to similar patterns emerging in Burma/Myanmar. From the second half of 2022, we have been dedicating our efforts to opposing the revisions to the Development Cooperation Charter wherein the Official Development Assistance (ODA) would strategically be delivered in the form of both economic and military support in “preparation for war”.