Take a Step into the World ~The Volunteers Project Today~
2024.09.13
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- Tachibana Hideharu Director General Secretariat of Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers
The Paris Olympics and Paralympics were exciting, and many people have been impressed and cheered up by the success of Japanese athletes. A total of 18 athletes from 11 countries coached by Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCVs) participated in this tournament. For example, there is a table tennis player named Priscilla Tommy, who competed from Vanuatu. Vanuatu has less than 20 table tennis tables in the entire country, but with the dedicated guidance of a JOCV, she won the Oceania Qualifiers and successfully secured a spot in the Paris Olympic. (JICA Volunteer Coaches Take On an Olympic and Paralympic Challenge | News & Media - JICA)
When you hear the JOCVs, many of you may think that JOCVs are going to Africa to dig wells. But in fact, there are more than 180 occupational fields such as sports coaching, education, health, environmental education, management, and marketing. Currently, there are approximately 1,500 volunteers active in 74 countries around the world, and just under 60% of them are women.
Takashima Satoshi (JOCV) teaches table tennis techniques to Priscilla Tommy.
Although the fields in which JOCVs are dispatched are diversifying, there is one thing that has remained unchanged since the start of this program. That is that "JOCVs live together with local people in developing countries and work together to solve problems." It is necessary to make use of the awareness from the standpoint of "outsiders" and "foreigners", but activities will not proceed well from the perspective of "I came to teach from Japan.” It is important to take the stance of working together as partners to find solutions.
However, it is not so easy to engage with people of different nationalities, races, lifestyles, and values, and gain empathy. By encountering various obstacles and overcoming many difficulties and failures, there are opportunities for awareness and growth. As a result, many of the JOCVs who have returned to Japan expressed their gratitude, saying, "I was taught more than I intended to teach," and "I was helped by the local people when I intended to help."
After returning to Japan, they will make use of their experience as a JOCV. In order to solve local issues in Japan, they are working on regional revitalization and multicultural coexistence.
Two years ago, we started an initiative called the “Glocal Program”. This program provides opportunities for JOCVs candidates who wish to work on solving issues faced by local communities in Japan after returning to participate in initiatives such as regional revitalization and multicultural coexistence implemented by local governments. Currently, this program is being implemented in 14 prefectures and 23 regions, and more than 100 people participate every year. I hope that even after completing their activities as JOCVs, the number of young people who value their connections with the local community and work to solve social issues in Japan will increase. (JICA Overseas Cooperation Volunteers Glocal Program (Pre-Dispatch Type) | JICA Overseas Cooperation Volunteers)
Experience farming and think about the sustainability of agriculture. (Ama-cho, Shimane, Japan)
JICA has launched two new assistance programs aimed at promoting solutions to social issues by JOCVs returning to Japan.
The first is the "Social Giving Award." This award is given to those who continue to make efforts to give back their experiences to Japanese society even after returning to Japan. There are various ways to make use of their experiences, such as activities to support children from impoverished families, starting a business to revitalize the region, expanding the overseas expansion of the company to which they belong, and accepting foreign human resources in the workplace. I hope that many people will know about those who are making such efforts, and that the number of young people who will follow in their footsteps will increase. (2nd_syakaikangenhyousyoushikitenjissi_240628.pdf (jica.go.jp)
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The second is "Entrepreneurship Support Project BLUE1”. Based on the approach that business ideas that solve social issues lie dormant in the experience gained through the JOCVs and the newly born values, this program supports young people who want to take on the challenges of the world, Japan, and local communities in the form of "social entrepreneurship." Specifically, in addition to implementing an entrepreneurship program under the supervision of Borderless Academy Co., Ltd., which has produced social entrepreneurs, we have also established the JICA Startup Hub at SHIBUYA QWS, a co-creation center that creates social value from various questions. (BLUE - JICA Overseas Cooperation Volunteers Entrepreneurship Support Project)
The JOCVs program will celebrate its 60th anniversary next year, and if you look at it this way, you can understand that the project is also changing with the times. In order to convey these changes in an easy-to-understand manner, we published a book summarizing the stories of the seven volunteers who returned to Japan. Please click on the link below to see the details.
Publication of "JOCVs: Social Entrepreneurs: GLOCAL INNOVATORs Changing Society through Empathy" | NEWS | Bungeisha (bungeisha.co.jp)
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