Bangladesh: Offering a Comfortable Space for Women and Children

As of September, 2019, more than 910,000 refugees from Rakhine State, in the western part of Myanmar, live in Cox’s Bazar Province, which is located in the south-eastern part of Bangladesh. Since the mass human exodus in August 2017, the most vulnerable people, particularly women and children, are living a perilous life that is fraught with fear. For example, some people report that they can never feel secure, not even in their temporary accommodation, because they cannot expect to have their privacy protected when the refugee camp is so overcrowded with shelters. To make matters worse, traffickers of women and children, who try to lure them into taking up a “well-paid” job outside the camp or abroad, are rampant in refugee camps. Moreover, in refugee communities, where men play a dominant role under the patriarchal norms, domestic violence and abuse are seldom taken seriously, and as a result, gender-based violence never ceases to exist.

In collaboration with our local partner “NGO Forum for Public Health”, since November 2018, AAR Japan has been running four facilities to allow women and children to live in peace – two facilities for CFS (Children Friendly Space) and two facilities for WFS (Women Friendly Space).

A play featuring human trafficking performed on Universal Children’s Day (November 20th, 2019) at CFS, in the Alikhali camp

Support for victims of Typhoon Hagibis (2019): Steady progress for reconstruction

Vehicle handover ceremony at the social welfare corporation “Work Center Mugi” in Sukagawa, Fukushima prefecture on December 12, 2019. Ms.Matsuo from IMC(right) and Mr.Shigemasa Aoki from “Gospel Association”.

AAR Japan [Association for Aid and Relief, Japan] currently supports 11 social welfare facilities in Miyagi, Fukushima, Nagano and Tochigi prefectures where affected by the Super Typhoon Hagibis that hit main island of Japan on October 12, 2019. We provide furniture, fixtures, and equipment for restarting operations, and support building repairs as well.

Sudan: Partnering with Locals to find Sanitation Solutions in Sudan

From February 2016 to March 2019, AAR Japan worked to install water supply equipment in the Reefi Aroma locality of Kassala State, 500km east of the capital Khartoum, in Sudan. The aim was to increase the use of toilets, and enact waste management countermeasures. Akemi KITA, who oversees activities in Sudan, sent this report from the Tokyo office on the actions taken and their results.

Dramatically reducing time needed to fetch water

In 2014, only 13.1% of the Kassala state population had access to safe water; this was strikingly low compared to 68.1% for all of Sudan. Within this state, in the Reefi Aroma locality, AAR Japan installed water supply equipment; including water tanks, pipes, and water stations in seven locations across six villages.

Water supply equipment built by AAR Japan was handed over to the local government at a Handover Ceremony. (July 2017)