Now that not a day goes by without news of the armed conflict between Israel and Palestine or the tragic situation in Ukraine, we are increasingly exposed to the word “refugee”. The number of refugees has been increasing in recent years due to protracted conflicts and political instability, and the crisis is becoming more serious and complex due to factors such as climate change, etc. At the 2nd Global Refugee Forum held in December, JICA President Akihiko Tanaka strongly emphasized the need to further strengthen cooperation between humanitarian assistance, development cooperation, and peace efforts. JICA President Akihiko Tanaka strongly emphasized the need to strengthen cooperation between humanitarian assistance, development cooperation, and peace efforts. We will discuss the increasingly protracted and complex refugee issues and the future of cooperation.
JICA President Akihiko Tanaka speaks at the event, “2nd Global Refugee Forum
Expansion of cooperation is essential for future refugee assistance.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the number of refugees and internally displaced persons who have been forced to flee their homes due to conflict or persecution will exceed 114 million by the end of September 2023, more than doubling in the past decade. The number of people forced to flee their homes has more than doubled in the past 10 years. In addition, 66% of the refugees have been displaced for more than 5 years. Many refugees (about 75%) flee to neighboring countries where it is easier to find refuge, but most of the host countries are low- and middle-income countries. The long-term stay of refugees leads to an increased burden on the receiving countries, so the international community needs to share this burden and work together for both the refugees and the regions that host them.
The Global Refugee Forum is the world’s largest international conference for discussing refugee issues, held once every four years and attended by representatives of government agencies, private companies, NGOs, civil society, and refugees from around the world under the philosophy of “society-wide efforts. While sharing their experiences and knowledge with each other, they discuss ways to improve the situation surrounding refugees and declare their commitment to solving the problem. The second conference was held in Geneva, Switzerland from December 13 to 15, 2023, hosted by UNHCR and the Swiss government, with Japan serving as co-chair along with Colombia, France, Jordan, and Uganda.
The humanitarian crisis is compounded and cannot be addressed by emergency humanitarian aid any longer. More cooperation between humanitarian assistance, development, and peace is needed. JICA President Akihiko Tanaka, speaking at the Forum’s high-level event, made this strong appeal. The Forum’s initiatives included “support for development planning that is inclusive of the needs of refugees and host communities” and “dispatching advisors to refugee and displaced persons ministries and agencies in each country to promote the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus (HDP Nexus)*”. The need to expand cooperation among more people and organizations in the “HDP nexus,” which was declared to be promoted at the first forum, and to support host governments so that refugee host countries themselves can take the lead in promoting cooperation among these diverse actors, were also emphasized.
JICA President Akihiko Tanaka speaks at a high-level event at the Forum
*Humanitarian, Development and Peace Nexus (HDP Nexus)
Humanitarian assistance” to meet immediate needs, as well as “development cooperation” to support the self-reliance of refugees and reduce the burden on host countries from a medium- to long-term perspective, and “peace operations” to resolve and prevent conflicts that are the root causes of refugee outbreaks, are promoted. Concept.
Expanded Role of Development Cooperation Agencies
The refugee crisis is worse than it was four years ago, when the first Forum was held, with crises on the rise and the international community severely divided. Under these circumstances, the need to promote cooperation between humanitarian, development, and peace efforts has become even more urgent in order to deliver assistance with limited resources and to harness the potential of refugees and recipient countries alike.”
So said Ryutaro Murotani, Director of the Peacebuilding Division of JICA’s Governance and Peacebuilding Department, who participated in this year’s Global Refugee Forum with President Tanaka.
Humanitarian agencies such as UNHCR and UNICEF provide emergency assistance such as shelter, food, medical care, water and sanitation to ensure the life, dignity and safety of refugees at risk. Development cooperation agencies, such as the World Bank and JICA, work with refugees and host countries and regions from a medium- to long-term perspective to promote the self-reliance of refugees and the social and economic development of host countries. Both types of support are indispensable, and by working together to take advantage of their respective strengths, the necessary support can reach where it is needed and also create opportunities for the residents and refugees living in the area to demonstrate their abilities. However, for refugee-receiving countries and regions, there have been cases of confusion and burden due to the different windows for receiving aid for humanitarian and development purposes. Therefore, it was necessary for the receiving countries themselves to change their systems and develop their capacities.
The role of development cooperation agencies such as JICA is expanding,” says Murotani, “and one of the most important is to work with host communities to build a society in which both refugees and host community residents can realize their potential.
Mr. Murotani (second from the right in the foreground) participates in the forum and discusses with participants.
Peaceful coexistence between refugees and host communities in Uganda
In Uganda, JICA has been promoting capacity building and institutional improvements in the host communities in order to achieve “peaceful coexistence” between refugees and residents of the host communities. In a project that has been ongoing for many years to strengthen rice production capacity, rice cultivation training is being expanded to include refugees. By helping refugees learn cultivation techniques, the project improves the livelihoods of both refugees and local residents. Uganda, which is a country that is tolerant of refugees and provides them with freedom of employment, has accepted approximately 1.5 million refugees from neighboring countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan, making it one of the largest refugee hosting countries in Africa.
Refugees living in Uganda learning rice farming techniques and harvesting rice
However, the increase in the number of refugees in Uganda has sometimes caused friction with local residents. Some people said, “We don’t want refugees flooding into the hospital,” or “We would rather have a school built for refugees. The government is now taking the initiative to integrate all operations of the hospitals and schools in the region, including those in the refugee settlements. We are helping to create a system that makes life easier for everyone, refugees and local residents alike, to receive equal access to government services.
By carefully listening to the voices of both refugees and local residents and connecting them to the local administration, we can create an environment where everyone can receive good public services and everyone can improve their lives on their own. This is the role that JICA, as a development cooperation agency that has been involved in supporting refugees in Uganda for many years, can play.
To build a life of peace of mind, emotional care is also essential.
One of the initiatives that drew attention at this year’s Global Refugee Forum was Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) for refugees. As people live longer in refugee camps, there is an increasing need for comprehensive psychological support tailored to local conditions, especially for younger people.
Since 2022, JICA had been conducting a study for psychosocial care for Syrian refugees taking refuge in Turkey and youths in the host areas. Under such circumstances, the “Turkey-Syria Earthquake” occurred in February 2023, and we started the “Pilot Activity for Strengthening Psychosocial Support Capacity” targeting the affected areas where psychosocial care was urgently needed first. The areas affected by the earthquake were also home to many refugees.
Earthquake-stricken areas in Turkey that suffered extensive damage from the earthquake
Turkey has become the world’s largest host country for refugees due to the Syrian Civil War, with 3.7 million people. Since there are never enough psychosomatic and psychiatric doctors, and there is an overwhelming shortage in relation to the number of refugees, it is important to first increase the number of people who can immediately provide mental health care and prevent people with stress and anxiety from becoming seriously ill. To this end, training was conducted for the country’s Ministry of Youth and Sports, which implements diverse activities for the sound development of youth in the country, including refugees, to train trainers who can provide psychological first aid (PFA). Subsequently, we are building a system to widely disseminate the method to youth center staff and others.
The training was led by Professor Atsuro Tsutsumi of Kanazawa University, who has experience in providing mental health care in disaster-stricken areas in Japan and abroad, and Dr. Eizaburo Tanaka, a psychiatrist and specially-appointed lecturer at the University of Tokyo. Reflecting on the training, Dr. Tanaka said
The challenges of MHPSS will not be solved overnight, and the results are difficult to visualize. Therefore, it is important to plan projects from a long-term perspective with measurable results. There is a high potential need for MHPSS in every country, and we want to do something about it. It is important that we work with those in the field.”
Training to train trainers to disseminate psychological first aid (PFA) techniques (July 2023, Turkey).
A society that opens up further possibilities with refugees.
For development cooperation agencies, refugee assistance is about “opening up the closed possibilities for refugees,” said Murotani. We are also working together with refugees to expand the possibilities of the communities that host them. In fact, at the Global Refugee Forum, we heard the stories of many refugees who have found education and employment opportunities and are active in their respective places of work. No matter what their situation, everyone should be able to pursue their own potential and promote capacity building so that they can become ‘bearers of development’ and live with dignity. This is also linked to the concept of human security.”
To this end, cooperation from a diverse range of partners, including not only international humanitarian and development organizations but also the private sector, will be required in the future. JICA is currently compiling the experiences and lessons learned from refugee assistance in Uganda, which is promoting a national development plan based on coexistence with refugees, as a model to be used as a guideline for considering the content of cooperation with other countries.
For those of us living in Japan, it may be difficult to imagine the life of refugees. However, because Japan is often hit by disasters such as earthquakes and floods, we may actually be able to see this as a problem close to our hearts. Think back to evacuation centers in disaster-stricken areas. As time goes by after the evacuation, you will want to get back to your life and regain your peace of mind. Some of you may want to do what you can do by yourself, not only to receive support, but also to create a society where such crises do not occur. If I were a refugee, I would want to do what I can do to help. Now that the number of people displaced from their homes around the world has exceeded 100 million, the time has come for everyone to face the refugees from their own perspective and do what they can to help.
© Source JICA
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