May Japan and JICA continue to be unique friends for Nicaragua ― 61 years of cooperation with Nicaragua ―

In 2025, Nicaragua and Japan are celebrating its 90 years of diplomatic relationship. JICA has been collaborating with Nicaragua for decades. Nowadays, Japan and JICA are going through an important stage to show that Japan and JICA are special friends committed to walk hand in hand for long years without interruption.

Nicaragua, located in Central America, neck of land between North y South America. After almost 300 years of the Spanish conquest which lasted since the 16th century at the Age of Discovery, the country achieved its independency in 1821. Nevertheless Nicaragua had to resist against foreign countries’ interventions like United States and England, besides lived the civil war history. It shares a border with the Pacific Ocean in the west and with the Caribbean Ocean in the east, which led this country to be a potential rute acrossing both oceans by a canal as the Panama Canal, this plan named Nicaraguan Interoceanic Canal that continues existing until now with different rutes proposed.

The current government has been conducted by the President Mr. Daniel Ortega Saavedra of Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN), came back to assume the President in 2007 after leading the country at the decade of 1980.

The year 2025, for Central American countries (Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica) and Japan means its 90th anniversary of diplomatic relationship. During this long time history of friendship between Nicaragua and Japan, JICA has been part of this history for various decades, performing an important role as cooperation partner of Nicaragua.

JICA started its cooperation with Nicaragua in 1964 inviting to Japan the first Nicaraguan Participant to a JICA’s training program “Land Reform” and since then for 61 years has been acting as Nicaraguan collaborator.

The cooperation from its beginning has been centered around the key sectors for Nicaraguan development like agriculture, livestock and fishery since the country has a high potential in those sectors as well as in basic public sector like Education, Health and potable water among others. Afterward to these priorities another important sectors had been added like Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Environment, which relevance became notable when Japan dispatched to Nicaragua an Emergency Disaster Relief Team (Medical Team) immediately after passing the Hurricane Mitch in 1998.

Lots of Nicaraguan people from high government officers until citizens mention infrastructure projects like bridges and schools construction as Japan/JICA’s symbolic projects. In deed until now 24 bridges (actually the bridge #25 is under construction) and 258 schools has been constructed, however many other technical cooperation is widely recognized like the nation wide elaboration and validation of mathematic texts for students and guide for teachers at primary and secondary level, also Japanese volunteers’ acting in different sectors including sports and cultural field as the symbol of friendship of both nations.

2 years have passed since I took the representative in Nicaragua. During this period we could invite a Japanese Peruvian environmental specialist Dr. Marino Morikawa to study and formulate a project for improving the water quality of Xolotlán Lake (Lake of Managua), also strengthen the partnership between Yomiuri Giants and the Nicaraguan women baseball which a JICA baseball player volunteer contributed for its foundation, create ecological mascot in collaboration with Japanese artist Mrs. Akiko “Flo” Minowa, and promote a environmental education for the Xolotlán Lake in alliance with Shiga Prefecture and experts of the Lake Biwa in Japan etc., all these undertakings would not be possible without the creativity, willpower, teamwork of my colleagues and Nicaraguan counterparts and citizens. I feel Nicaraguan people’s expectation and warm sentiment towards Japan/JICA from the government until communities. We Japanese also are learning from Nicaraguans, amazed with their spontaneity and affection of Nicaraguan people, which is a fundamental value that Japanese would have set aside in the middle of dairy coming and going.

For JICA as executing cooperation agency it’s important to continue cooperating where Nicaragua need us, without interrupting neither one day. Actually many European and US donors have withdrawn their cooperation from Nicaragua and instead another emergent donors like China, Rusia etc. are increasing their aid. On the other hand Japan has been accompanying to Nicaragua solidly during these 61 years to extend its hands to where Nicaraguan authorities as well as Nicaraguan people expect. It’s important for JICA to continue producing positive and tangible impacts walking along with Nicaragua hand by hand. Thus consequently all Nicaraguan people such high government officers as community citizens will renew their sentiment “Japan is only and special” for after decades of years.

Our mission will continue developing actions which will be engraved in the heart of Nicaraguan people for long years, we’ll be expanding our cooperation field as one representative of Japan beyond the frame of a simple international cooperation.