The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on November 2. The signing took place at JICA headquarters in Tokyo between JICA President Akihiko Tanaka and UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, renewing the MOU signed in July 2019.
At the beginning of the signing ceremony, President Tanaka appreciated the strategic collaboration with UNICEF in the areas of health, nutrition, education, water sanitation, and people’s empowerment and protection since the signing of the first MOU in 2019, and noted that the renewed MOU would be an opportunity to explore new opportunities for collaboration in the newly added areas of innovation, He remarked that he would like to explore possibilities for collaboration in areas such as disaster management and South-South cooperation to enhance development synergies.
In response, Mr. Russell expressed his gratitude for the cooperation with JICA to date and said that he would like to further deepen the partnership and leverage the strengths of both organizations in the future, as unprecedented situations such as conflict, climate change, and the COVID-19 epidemic have left more children in need of assistance than ever before. He expressed his hope to further deepen the collaboration and utilize the strengths of both parties.
JICA and UNICEF have worked together on a variety of activities in more than 25 countries, including the dissemination of maternal and child health handbooks (Afghanistan, Burundi, etc.), cold chain development (Vietnam, Sierra Leone, etc.), nutrition improvement (Ethiopia), and promotion of non-formal education (Pakistan). In addition, UNICEF is a key member of the Steering Committee of the Africa Initiative for Food and Nutrition (IFNA), which JICA is leading with the African Union. In addition, JICA has been working with WHO and UNICEF to develop guidelines and implementation guides for family health records, including maternal and child health handbooks, through tripartite cooperation.
JICA will promote further collaboration with UNICEF to achieve more impactful development results and work towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and human security.
© Source JICA