Press Release

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) announced slots for young Filipino professionals to study disaster preparedness and management in Japan under its Knowledge Co-Creation Program (KCCP) for Young Leaders in 2021.

The program will dispatch 12 Filipinos to study Regional Revitalization in Disaster Prone Area in Tohuku region, to share Japan's reconstruction process after a natural disaster, history of disaster preparedness and education in Japan, and their experience in regional development.

JICA Senior Representative KANO Aya said, "Like the Philippines, Japan is prone to natural disasters because of our geographical location. JICA is committed to sharing our lessons and experiences on disaster management and recovery with the Philippines to promote sustainable, inclusive economic recovery and development."

This year, aside from the pandemic, the Philippines suffered from torrential rains and back-to-back typhoons that devastated Bicol, Metro Manila, and northern parts of the country including Cagayan and Isabela. Typhoons and floods have been perennial hazards in the Philippines, accounting for 80% of the country's natural disasters, according to a UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction Report in 2019. The country's global ranking in the World Risk Report 2020 published by Bündnis Entwicklung Hilft is also high at the ninth spot globally.

JICA said the KCCP training will "help build the capacity of the Philippines in disaster management and recovery by training its human resources on innovations and technology that Japan adopted from its experiences in disasters."

The selected Filipino trainees will visit Iwate Prefecture to see the role of collaboration in disaster response, and will also visit schools to learn the application of disaster education. In 2011, the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake devastated Iwate Prefecture and other coastal areas in the Tohoku Region. However, today, community life, business development, and infrastructure projects have been restored in the area.

Due to the pandemic, the program will consist of online modules (February 15 to March 29, 2021) aside from study visits in Japan (May 11-23, 2021).

Over the years, more than 40,000 Filipinos have trained under JICA's KCCP. It is viewed as an important venue for Japanese and Filipinos to collaborate, work together, and co-create innovative solutions to common issues and problems. To know more about the program, please visit this link:
https://www.jica.go.jp/philippine/english/activities/activity02_03_02.html