The President's Activities

JICA President Shinichi Kitaoka visited the United States from April 4 to 9.

Mr. Kitaoka held talks with Stephen O'Brien, under-secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator(OCHA); Hervé Ladsous, Head of Department of Peacekeeping Operations / Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO); Togegnework Gettu, U.N. Under-Secretary-General and UNDP Associate Administrator (UNDP); Morgens Lykketoft, president of the seventieth session of the United Nations General Assembly; Gayle E. Smith, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); and Sri Mulyani Indrawati, managing director and chief operating officer (COO) of the World Bank Group. He also spoke at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.

In each meeting, Mr. Kitaoka conveyed the message that it is important to use the World Humanitarian Summit, the G7 Ise-Shima Summit to be hosted by Japan, the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI), the first TICAD to be held in Africa, and other important events in 2016 to communicate the importance of the Sustainable Development Goals and to raise awareness in the international community, for their sound implementation.

With Mr. O'Brien of OCHA, Mr. Kitaoka discussed the World Humanitarian Summit in May. They discussed the importance of prior investment in disaster risk reduction based on the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, as well as the importance of putting equal emphasis on humanitarian crises stemming from conflicts and crises in the aftermath of natural disasters and communicating based on the distinctive characteristics of each.

With Mr. Ladsous of DPKO, Mr. Kitaoka discussed recent cooperation between ODA and peace-keeping operations in South Sudan.

Mr. Gettu of the UNDP gave Mr. Kitaoka an introduction to UNDP reform and he said he expects great cooperation between UNDP and JICA at the Humanitarian Summit and TICAD VI. With Mr. Lykketoft, Mr. Kitaoka discussed the next election of a U.N. secretary general, reform of the Security Council and the role of the U.N. General Assembly, among other topics.

With Ms. Smith of USAID, Mr. Kitaoka discussed the Japan-U.S. Development Dialogue on March 4; international health, a topic of mutual interest; assistance to African and TICAD VI; peace building and support for refugees in South Sudan and Syria; and initiatives that leverage the power of women and business in development.

With Ms. Indrawati, Mr. Kitaoka discussed "forced displacement and development," which will be a theme of the JICA-World Bank high-level dialogue being planned for May and of the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings in April. Mr. Kitaoka said health will be an important entry point to the 17 SDGs. He said that the increase in the numbers of refugees and internally displaced persons is not just a humanitarian problem, but also a development problem; that it will be important to support the host communities that are greatly affected; and that partnership between humanitarian agencies and development agencies will be essential. He also talked about JICA's contributions on these issues.

Mr. Kitaoka also attended a public event entitled "Securing Development in Insecure Places" at the Brookings Institution on April 7, where he gave the keynote address and participated in a panel discussion.

By continuing to form partnerships with international agencies and bilateral donors, JICA will work to bring about a development effect and to contribute to the development of the international community.