Alumni Association

About Alumni Association

Introduction

In 1954, Japan began accepting overseas technical participants in various training courses and by now, the number of participants accepted under JICA programmes had exceeded 160,000.

Over the years, a host of alumni associations has been voluntarily formed by ex-participants wishing to maintain contact with Japan or learn more about the country. The first alumni association was set up in the Philippines in 1967, and today there are 84 alumni associations worldwide, catering for more than 40,000 members in 78 countries.

Alumni association concentrated on activities conducive to strengthening friendship with Japan and amongst their members. In recent years, however, they have been involved in more wide-ranging activities, including collaboration in the activities of Japanese embassies and JICA overseas offices and community service.

Examples about Alumni association activities are shown as follows:

• Annual general meeting and regular meetings
• Issuance of an association newsletter and preparation of a member directory
• Community volunteer activities (free medical consolation, construction of parks, etc.)
• Sponsoring of Japanese culture familiarization events (Japanese Language, Flower Arrangement, Bonsai, etc.)
• Sponsoring of Japanese film screening events
• Predetermine briefing for participants bound for Japan
• Local briefing and home stay arrangement for JOCV workers
• Dissemination of information on Japanese ODA programs
• Collaboration in technical cooperation needs surveys and evaluations
• Friendship exchange with expatriate Japanese (hiking, sports days, etc