Volunteer Program

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) dispatches volunteers eager to make use of their skills and experience acquired in Japan to developing countries to work together with local people. JICA’s volunteer programmes are highly regarded by recipient countries as programmes that more closely approach and directly benefit communities. The programmes are some of the most popular sections of Japan’s regular help to developing countries, and the volunteers’ work complements JICA’s often larger, more structured technical development projects.

The goals of JICA’s Volunteer Programme are:

• To contribute to the socioeconomic development or reconstruction of developing countries and regions,
• To strengthen friendship and mutual understanding between developing countries and regions and Japan, and
• To give back to society the fruits of volunteer-activity experience.

Required technical know-how, knowledge and language skills vary depending on requests from recipient countries. Regardless of such requests, there are many important things in common, including the aim to help others, volunteers making their own decisions, being highly motivated to pursue the goals and make them happen, maintaining strong will and passion to overcome difficulties they face, being positively integrated into local communities, carrying out volunteer activities and having a daily life in a harmonious manner, adapting to different natural and social environments, being modest to learn from others, and maintaining a flexible and open mind.

For most volunteers, it is not easy to pursue activities in different social settings, which are harsher than those of Japan, while staying in good shape. Many former volunteers say that they were more satisfied and happier than nervous during the course of their activities as they became involved in their work.

Many decide to permanently enter related fields such as education or medicine after their volunteer experience, often continuing to work overseas or employing their newly found skills in towns, cities and universities across the nation.
JICA volunteers include Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) and Senior Volunteers (SV).