Director’s Message on COVID-19

The COVID-19 crisis is an unprecedented experience in terms of its global impact, broad effects not limited to the health sector, but also the whole economy and society, and prolonged uncertainty. The global pandemic is a strong reminder of global connectivity and the importance of international cooperation.

As the whole world struggles to prevent the spread or recurrence of the pandemic, we must face the reality that many developing countries are constrained by fragile health and medical systems and severe economic and financial conditions. According to the International Monetary Fund, the COVID-19 crisis has caused the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and the United Nations warns that an additional 130 million people will live in extreme poverty, on $1.90 a day, by 2030. Furthermore, the coronavirus crisis reveals such problems as fragile medical systems and disparities in developed countries, and suggests the need for diverse partnership models beyond the traditional international cooperation “from North to South.”

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can serve as our compass for building back better the post-COVID-19 world and realizing a world where no one is left behind. As the research arm of JICA, whose mission is to realize human security and quality growth (sustainable, inclusive and resilient growth), the JICA Ogata Sadako Research Institute for Peace and Development will analyze the impact of the COVID-19 crisis from the perspective of developing countries, and actively engage in and disseminate intellectual research on the future of international cooperation.

With this in mind, the JICA Ogata Sadako Research Institute for Peace and Development has launched a special page for coronavirus-related research. The page is an innovative intellectual challenge for us in two ways. The first involves working with a multisectoral approach beyond specific research clusters/projects. The second relates to attempting timely dissemination of research activities by combining such media as issue-raising research papers, blogs and seminars (webinars). We will make full use of JICA's strengths, such as field data from developing countries, as well as the domestic and overseas networks we have cultivated to date, to engage in challenging research and information dissemination activities.

Ohno Izumi, Director JICA Ogata Sadako Research Institute for Peace and Development
June 1, 2020