JICA's peacebuilding support primarily aims at consolidation of peace and prevention of occurrence and recurrence of armed conflicts. Actual support takes the form of providing service-delivery assistance meant for alleviating difficulties faced by the people affected during and immediately after conflicts, as well as developmental assistance meant to achieve stable development over the medium and long term.
Specifically, JICA extends its support in areas such as: (1) rehabilitation and reconstruction of socioeconomic infrastructure, (2) economic recovery, (3) governance, and (4) security.
In extending such support, much care has been taken to remedy service delivery to the general public at the immediate postconflict stage so that people can feel the so-called "peace dividend" as much as possible. By quickly restoring basic social services in the education and health sectors that have been disrupted during the conflict, people's growing expectations can be met after achieving a peace agreement, and public confidence in the government can eventually be restored. In cases where government capacity is too weak to provide such services, direct support is extended to the communities and people in need. Some examples of this approach include projects implemented in Uganda, Cote d'Ivoire, and Sudan.
Based on these experiences, JICA co-organized a workshop with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2014 to share lessons learned among practitioners at both organizations for improved project implementation in postconflict situations. JICA conducted seminars for the general public to advocate the importance of mine actions in mine contaminated countries as well as Japan's contributions to such activities. JICA also held a symposium in Hiroshima to discuss challenges in peacebuilding in Mindanao; the symposium was honored with the attendance of President Aquino of the Philippines.
JICA strives to develop human resources in peacebuilding in addition to accumulating and disseminating knowledge and experience in this field.
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