June 20 is “World Refugee Day,” a day designated to raise awareness and support for those who have been forced to become refugees due to conflict and other reasons. Sadako Ogata, who served as UN High Commissioner for Refugees and President of JICA, has advocated the concept of “human security. How can this concept of “human security” be inherited and applied today, when we are exposed to new threats such as infectious diseases and military invasions? We will unravel from the words of two people who have inherited Ms. Ogata’s aspirations.
We protect life, livelihood, and the dignity of everyone’s human life. We think not only about ourselves but also about others. That is human security, quite simply.
Koji Makino, Deputy Director of JICA’s Sadako Ogata Peace and Development Institute, succinctly describes “human security,” which is sometimes said to be difficult to understand.
Deputy Director Koji Makino discusses human security at the “Sadako Ogata Memorial Gallery” in JICA Ichigaya
Sadako Ogata when she was JICA President Sadako Ogata, who was involved in refugee assistance at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for many years and later served as JICA President, rooted the concept of human security into JICA’s efforts. Because she had experienced the difficult situation of people dying in front of her own eyes in numerous refugee assistance projects, Sadako Ogata put her commitment to protecting and empowering the most vulnerable into practice at JICA as well. Doing the best we can now to help everyone live safely and humanely – that aspiration is still alive and well in JICA, 10 years after he retired as President, and 3 years after his death in 2019. And now, as the world faces unprecedented crises such as global infectious diseases and military invasions that threaten the international order, each of us must once again consider human security as a personal matter.
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The concept of human security was first discussed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in 1994, and has been the subject of much debate at UN agencies and other organizations, with the rapid increase in the number of conflicts around the world in the early 1990s said to have been the impetus for the concept’s creation. Later, in 2003, the UN Commission on Human Security issued a report advocating “the creation of a world in which all people can escape fear and lack and live in dignity. Ms. Ogata was one of the co-chairs of this commission.
In 2003, Mr. Ogata became President of JICA, and focused his efforts on human security as a basic concept. However, because of the abstract nature of the concept and the wide range of issues involved, some within JICA did not know where to begin, according to Makino, then Deputy Director of the Human Security Promotion Division.
We don’t have time for philosophical discussions about what human security is. We don’t have time for philosophical discussions about what human security is, etc. We must do what we can do now for those who are in need. Since assuming the position of President, Mr. Ogata has often spoken these words. First of all, go to the field.
JICA established the “Seven Perspectives on Human Security,” which provided concrete guidelines for practicing human security in the field, and focused on peacebuilding and assistance to poverty-stricken Africa from the perspective of “supporting those who are most in need today. As a result of embodying the commitment to human security, Deputy Director Makino recalls that the concept gradually became widespread in JICA.
Ogata-san was a field-oriented person during her time as JICA President (from the Sadako Ogata Memorial Gallery exhibit).
Collaboration between Humanitarian Assistance and Development Cooperation. A New Form of Refugee Assistance Practiced in Uganda
After working for UNHCR in providing humanitarian assistance to refugees and for the United Nations in compiling the concept of human security, Ms. Ogata has focused on providing assistance to vulnerable populations, including refugees, from the standpoint of development cooperation that encourages self-reliance and addresses the root causes of crises from a medium- to long-term perspective at JICA. In various capacities, he has worked on how to maintain human dignity and security.
Although humanitarian aid distributes food and supplies to refugees and supports their livelihoods, the assistance provided by humanitarian agencies ends when the refugees return to their own countries. Since his time at UNHCR, Mr. Ogata has been keenly aware of the need for development aid organizations such as JICA to quickly become involved in post-conflict reconstruction, as it is difficult for a country to become self-reliant after a civil war when its government has not yet recovered to the point where it can provide services to its people.
When I was working as an international NGO worker in post-conflict Rwanda, assisting people returning from refugee camps in Tanzania, I remember well how Ogata-san, then the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, encouraged development agencies to seamlessly initiate reconstruction assistance after humanitarian aid had helped refugees return. I do.”
Ms. Eri Komukai, who has been working on peacebuilding support for refugees and other issues as a JICA International Cooperation Specialist, is currently involved in supporting the return, resettlement, and rehabilitation of internally displaced people in northern Uganda, where she started in 2009, and in the same area in northern Uganda, where refugees from neighboring countries are currently being received.
Mr. Ogata’s aspiration to bridge the gap between humanitarian assistance and development cooperation has been transformed and passed on to the refugee assistance that JICA is now providing in Uganda,” said Mr. Komukai.
In recent years, as conflicts have become more protracted, it has become more difficult for the flow of humanitarian assistance to take over from development cooperation. The need has arisen for humanitarian and development cooperation to support refugees and the societies that host them, and cooperation in Uganda, where many protracted refugees live, is shifting to a new form. Northern Uganda is home to as many as 1 million refugees who have fled neighboring South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. As the civil war drags on and the number of refugees living in Uganda increases to more than 10 years, local residents have voiced their dissatisfaction with the use of local resources and facilities by the refugees. Against this backdrop, JICA is working in northern Uganda with humanitarian agencies such as UNHCR, the World Bank, and other development aid agencies to create a system that allows both local residents and refugees to live in peace.
Specialist Komukai (second from back left) interviews a settlement head in a refugee settlement in the West Nile region of northern Uganda.
Empowerment of communities and the people who live in them is essential to achieving human security.
Now that refugees are unable to return to their home countries for long periods of time, refugee assistance is not limited to emergency humanitarian aid. JICA’s role is increasing. JICA’s role is increasing, says Mr. Komukai.
JICA is working with local governments in Uganda to provide services that reflect the voices of both sides, so that refugees in Uganda who have no hope of returning can live human lives together with local residents. JICA is also working with other protracted refugee situations, such as refugee camps in Palestine, JICA is also promoting cooperation in other protracted refugee situations, such as Palestinian refugee camps, to ensure that the dignity of refugees is protected by strengthening the capacity of communities and government agencies.
Modern human security underpins the achievement of the SDGs
The number of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) worldwide (Note 1) has increased dramatically since 2011; UNHCR announced in May of this year that the number had exceeded 100 million. (Note 2). Furthermore, conflicts, refugees, and internally displaced persons (IDPs) are becoming more protracted: according to the Global Risk Awareness Survey conducted from September to October 2021 (Note 3), 90% of those surveyed are increasingly concerned about social vulnerability and widening inequality due to multiple threats, including the spread of infectious diseases and climate change. In addition, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 threatens not only neighboring countries but also countries and people around the world in various ways, and it is said that not since the last two world wars has there been such a situation where all humanity is under threat.
Note 1:
Internally displaced persons are those who have been forced to flee their homes due to civil war, acts of violence, serious human rights violations, or natural disasters and are forced to take shelter within their own country.
Note 2:
Note 3:
Regarding efforts for human security, which means that everyone should live safely and humanely, Deputy Director Makino points out, “Until now, Japanese people have tended to think of this as an event somewhere far away in the world. However, now that the crisis is closer to home in Japan, with the hospital system shutting down due to the spread of the new coronavirus and flooding caused by abnormal weather, “everyone needs to think about protecting lives and livelihoods and living like human beings as their own personal matters,” he says.
This March, the Sadako Ogata Institute for Peace and Development launched a report titled “Human Security Today” in order to reiterate human security to the world, taking into account the changing times.
The response to this report has been so great that we have had inquiries from economic organizations, student groups, and others asking us to speak about human security.” This was unthinkable before. The private sector and civil society are beginning to pay attention to the realization of human security,” says Deputy Director Makino. He then goes on to say the following.
It can be said that human security underpins the movement toward achieving the SDGs, which aim to leave no one behind and achieve sustainable development. Looking ahead to the next 10 years and beyond, if the world becomes more peaceful, Japan will become more peaceful, too.” Inheriting Ogata-san’s thoughts, we will continue to communicate actions to realize human security in line with the times.
Sadako Ogata Memorial Gallery Opens: Get to Know Life-Size Sadako Ogata
In March 2022, the Sadako Ogata Memorial Gallery was opened on the first floor of the JICA Ichigaya Building, where the JICA Sadako Ogata Peace and Development Institute is located. The gallery introduces Ms. Ogata’s footsteps in the practice of human security, with episodes from her career. In addition to her great achievements, visitors can catch a glimpse of the life-size Ogata-san through her handwritten diary, videos, and other valuable materials. By learning about his way of life and personality, it is hoped that people will aspire to become the next generation of Ogata-san.
(Left) Ogata-san was a tennis player who was as good as a pro. When I came to work at the beginning of the week, Ogata-san was always slightly tanned, and I think he must have practiced on the weekends,” recalls Makino.
(Right) Also introduces the concept of human security, which has changed over time.
The following are his handwritten diaries of September 10 and 11, 2001. On the day of the attacks, Ogata-san was in New York City, and in his diary entry for September 11, he wrote, “When I finished reading the newspaper and looked outside, I saw black smoke coming from the World Trade Building (omitted), and I foresaw U.S. retaliation against Afghanistan. Thereafter, Mr. Ogata continued his efforts to provide assistance to Afghanistan.
Sadako Ogata Memorial Gallery
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