JICA Volunteer Program

JICA Volunteer Program, also known as the Japan Overseas Volunteer Program (JOCV) commenced in Sri Lanka on 3rd of April 1981, exactly 40 years ago with the arrival of first 3 volunteers. Volunteers have done their activities with the aim of providing maximum support for economic and social development and strengthening international friendship and to deepen mutual understanding. Since then, the JOCV members have acted as young ambassadors sharing their knowledge and transferring valuable technology, while most importantly, building genuine and long-lasting friendships with the locals that have outlasted beyond their stay in Sri Lanka.

In the past four decades, over 1,058 volunteers have been dispatched to Sri Lanka and have served in more than 100 different fields of service ranging from education and health to sports to community development to agriculture and environmental protection. The focus of JOCV activities have changed from time to time, keeping with the social and economic changes in the country and therefore the significant contributions made by the JICA volunteers towards the country's development have been greatly valued by all those that have been benefitted.

The large success of the volunteer activities in Sri Lanka is mainly owing to the fluency of the local languages of Sinhala and Tamil within the volunteers, along with their clear understanding of the culture, traditions and norms respected by the Sri Lankans. In addition, the valuable work ethics our volunteers possess, such as discipline, humility, teamwork, responsibility, leadership etc. have had a large positive influence on those whom they have worked with.

The impact and contribution made by the JOCV program throughout the past 40 years could not be simply put into words. Despite the circumstances caused by the global pandemic and other tough times that may come to be, JOCV would continue to humbly serve the Sri Lankans in furthering the cause of "helping the locals do what they do better".

1981 - Mr. MUTA of the First Batch of JOCV at National Youth Services Council(NYSC)
Batangala Training Centre

1981 - Ms. IOKA of the First Batch of JOCV at Rural Development Training Centre, Uda Peradeniya Training Centre

1983 - Ms. Kawashima at NYSC Akmeemana Training Center (Photo by: Mr. Nikawa)

1985 - Mr. Kogai at NYSC Heyanyuduwa Training Centre