TANAKA Akihiko

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, left, and JICA President Akihiko Tanaka met in Tokyo on March 13.

JICA President Akihiko Tanaka held talks in Tokyo with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud on March 13.

In November 2012, a unified government was established in Somalia, and a civil war that had been going on for 20 years ended. The country took its first step toward peace, but the citizens are still leading difficult lives amid a nation left in ruins by civil war and drought.

In the talks, President Hassan said policies for a stable society including piracy countermeasures are important for the development of Somalia, and vocational training for human resource development will give young people employment opportunities and prevent the destabilization of society. He also said it is essential to create vocational training schools throughout Somalia to help build the country up. He went on to express his hopes for cooperation from Japan, saying he would like to request human resource development through overseas training and the like, in light of the current public order situation.

In response to this, Tanaka said the current situation does not allow for the immediate expansion of cooperation in Somalia, such as the dispatch of experts, but that JICA would like to cooperate through such measures as training in Japan, and in Ethiopia and other countries near Somalia. Giving the example of cooperation in the vocational training sector in South Sudan and Uganda, he said JICA would like to share this kind of experience and deepen discussion on future cooperation.

JICA will strive to provide cooperation to Somalia from a longterm point of view.