JOICFP NEWS NO. 233 OCTOBER 1993

Item

Title
JOICFP NEWS NO. 233 OCTOBER 1993
extracted text
No. 232 October 1993

ISSN 0911 -0755

JOICFP NEWS
Kazutoshi Yamaji Dies at 90
Japan loses active supporter ofpopulation and development issues
JOICFP Senior Adviser
Kazutoshi Yamaji, 90, died
suddenly in Tokyo on September
5 of heart failure. A leading
supporter of population and
development issues domestically
and internationally, and widely
recognized for his humanitarian
beliefs, Yamaji served as chairman
ofJOICFPfrom 1971 -1988 after
holding the position of executive
director of JOICFP.
Following his graduation from
Kyoto University, Yamaji began
his career in 1930 as a journalist
with the Mainichi Shimbun, a
major daily Japanese newspaper
that is well-known for its
contribution to spreading
awareness of population issues
within Japan. He held many
distinguished posts during his life
including the position of official
secretary to former Prime Minister
Nobusuke Kishi.
Yamaji’s involvement in the popu­
lation and development field was
intensified during his years with Kishi,
the first parliamentarian to recognize the
importance of population issues to the
future of the world. Kishi went on to
establish the Japan Parliamentarians
Federation for Population (JPFP) in 1974,
the world’s first suprapartisan parli­
amentarian body supporting population
and development issues. Yamaji was
instrumental in supporting Kishi’s efforts
in this field in his position as the former
prime minister’s right-hand man.
As a key player in the population and
development field, Yamaji did much
throughout his life to develop guidelines
for the activities of parliament and non­
governmental organizations (NGOs)
including JOICFP. He also played an
important role in gaining the support of
the Japanese government for inter­
national bodies such as UNFPA and IPPF.
Yamaji was also one of the founders
of JOICFP in 1968 and maintained his
close affiliation with the organization

Kazutoshi Yamaji

up until the time of his death. As the leader
of a mission to China in 1980, he helped
pave the way for more open relations
between Japan and China in the field of
population.
Contribution to China

Through this mission, an agreement
was drawn up to begin the Integrated Project
(IP) in China which is now helping to
improve the way of life at the grassroots.
Yamaji’s contribution to China was
remembered in a message of condolence
sent to his family by Chinese government
officials.
Following the death of Kishi, Yamaji
maintained his involvement in the
population and development field and
actively supported the work of JOICFP
President Takeo Fukuda. As a prime
minister ofJapan, Fukuda followed Kishi’s
footsteps and took the lead in the popula­
tion and development field.
The funeral ceremonies for Yamaji were
held on September 7 and 8 and attended by

500 people. Dr. Nafis Sadik,
executive director, UNFPA, and
JOICFP Chairman Chojiro Kunii
joined the many parliamentari­
ans, government officials,
representatives of NGOs, friends,
colleagues and family members
attending the ceremony.
Addressing the mourners,
Fukuda recalled the support
provided by Yamaji and his
contribution to population and
development issues. “Yamaji was
an ideal partner to Kishi, not only
in the political sphere, but also in
the population and development
field,” he said. “Kishi was the first
to realize that population issues
were a priority matter for the future
of the world.” Stating his appre­
ciation that Yamaji and Kishi
together worked to bring popu­
lation issues to the attention of the
public, Fukuda added that it was
because of their efforts that he
recognized the importance of these issues.
“Every year, the population of the
world increases by 100 million people,”
Fukuda said. “At this rate, the present
world population will increase from 5.5
billion to reach between 8 to 10 billion
within several decades.” Calling for
action to tackle the problem, Fukuda said
that population issues will determine the
future of all human beings. “There is no
time to delay. We must take action now,”
he said. “Twenty or 30 years can pass so
quickly.” In summing up Yamaji’s
contributions to the field, Fukuda called
on people to carry the torch in the
population and development field.
Following the death, the Yamaji
family received condolences from all
over the world. Among the messages
received were condolences sent on be­
half of Dr. Fred Sai, president, IPPF, by
Secretary-general Halfdan Mahler and
Assistant Secretary-general Mark Laskin;
Joseph Van Arendonk, deputy executive
director, UNFPA; and Bernard Aluvihare,
former assistant secretary, IPPF.
iJ

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Africa

Migration on
the Continent
Famine N’ diaye, director, Africa
Division, UNFPA, and Dr. Richard
Turkson, regional director, Africa
Regional Office, IPPF, spoke to JOICFP
NEWS on July 30 about migration in
Africa. Relow are highlights of their
comments.
Lamine N’diaye

Migration is going to be a very big
issue in Africa. It is created by inequalities
—economic and
social disparities
— that push a lot
of people to look
for other places
where they can
improve
the
quality of their
lives. On the
African
conti­
N’diaye
nent, some coun­
tries are relatively well off compared to
others, and these attract people from
countries where the economic situation
is less promising.

Another kind of migration affecting
Africa is international migration. There is
resentment with this migration in Europe
where countries are revising their
immigration policies to be more restrictive.
However, there are some jobs in those
countries that the nationals do not want to
do which require the work of immigrants.
The migration situation is unavoidable
because of the population factor. Africa’s
population is growing at a rate of 3%, but
the economy is not growing. In other
words, there are countries which cannot
accommodate the new entrants into the
labor market. For survival these people
have to look beyond their frontiers. As
long as the countries don’t improve their
economic situation the flow of migrants
will intensify in the future.
Richard Turkson

Migration on the African continent can
be attributed to various sources. One major
cause is people trying to find fertile farming
land. Population pressure on limited land
resources does lead to all kinds of prob­
lems including migration.
IPPF aims to improve the quality of life
of the population through FP. For a long
time we have worried about the population
resource imbalance. But if we can
encourage individuals to decide freely and
responsibly the number and spacing of

their children, some of the pressures that
we do have on available resources will be
considerably reduced and thereby the
quality of life would be enhanced.
Migration can also be the internal
movement of people within a country.
For example, rural-to-urban migration.
Butiflifeismade
more attractive
in the rural areas,
people are less
likely to move to
the cities in
search of non­
existent jobs.
Another
T ,
cause of migraTurkson
tion, political turmoil, is something that
has to do with the sustainability of
institutions that are foreign to us in Africa.
When we talk about democratization, we
are basically talking about the
Westminster model of parliamentary
democracy in its various forms, which
have not survived too well in the “alien”
cultures of Africa. I do not know what
the alternatives are, but this long search
for viable forms of government—viable
within the context of our cultures — has
led in most parts of Africa to such
problems as political turmoil and to the
kinds of situations from which people
have to flee.
[j]

Plan of Action for Africa
The 5 th UNFPAUPPFUOICFP Tripartite
Project Review (TPR) Meeting for the
African Region provided participants with
an opportunity to review tripartite
cooperation and the development of the
Integrated Project (IP) in Africa and to
discuss the future program development in
the field ofpopulation andfamily planning
(FP) and maternal and child health (MCH)
in the region. The meeting, held in Tokyo
from July 27 -30, was attended by Famine
N’diaye, director, AfricaDivision, UNFPA ;
Dr. Richard Turkson, regional director,
Africa Regional Office, IPPF; and
representatives ofJOICFP.
In the four countries of Tanzania, Zambia,
Ghana and The Gambia, the IP is jointly
funded by IPPF and JOICFP with support
from UNFPA on a regional basis. The
project in Ethiopia, meanwhile, is the only
UNFPA-funded country IP in Africa and is
presently in its first phase. One of the topics
discussed in Tokyo was the establishment
of an institutional collaborative framework
with IPPF, which recently created the
position of officer-in-charge of the IP in
Africa. As another part of this collaboration,
IPPF has been conducting monitoring
missions in the IP areas since 1992.
2

During the TPR, participants examined
progress made since last year in the projects in
Tanzania, Zambia, Ghana, The Gambia and
Ethiopia and identified areas for further
discussion. As part of these talks, a procedure
for independent evaluation was also discussed
and finalized at the meeting. It was agreed that
an independent evaluation will be conducted
with the support of both UNFPA and IPPF by
the first half of 1994. This evaluation will
involve twoconsultants and targetthe countries
of Tanzania, Zambia, Ghana and The Gambia.
PANFRICO-IV
The Regional Workshop of the Integrated
Project (PANFRICO-IV), scheduled to be held
in The Gambia from September 27 - October 1,
was also on the meeting agenda. Participants
suggested that French-speaking countries such
as Central African Republic, Madagascar and
Senegal be invited in addition to the 12
nominated countries — Cameroon, Ethiopia,
The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Namibia,
Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and
Zambia—and that the workshop should include
intensive discussions on lessons and experi­
ences gained from field observations.
While in Tokyo, the UNFPA and IPPF

representatives met with Japanese
government officials of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and the Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA). Ahead of the
1994 International Conference on Population
and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, the
Japanese government is reviewing its cur­
rent bilateral assistance in the field of
population and FP. The discussions with
the UNFPA and IPPF officials were very
timely and effective for increasing
government awareness and understanding
of the needs in Africa.
The representatives also expressed their
appreciation to the Japanese government
for serving as host to the Tokyo Conference
on African Development scheduled to be
held from October 5-6 and voiced their
wish that the population issue be seriously
addressed at this conference.
As another activity, the African repre­
sentatives paid a courtesy call on Kazutoshi
Kato, mayor, Toshima City. N’diaye and
Turkson expressed appreciation to Kato,
who also serves as president of the Munici­
pal Coordinating Committee for Overseas
Bicycle Assistance (MCCOBA), for the
support extended by the local government
association to countries in Africa.

JOICFP NEWS, October 1993

China

An Opportunity to Share
For a team of healthcare profes­
sionals from Fukushima Prefecture, a
visit to China provided a welcome
opportunity to observe the activities of
the Integrated Project (IP) being
conducted at the community level. The
study tour had special significance for
the visitors, many of whom have
contributed to the development of the
project in China since 1983 by assisting
study tours of Chinese IP personnel in
Fukushima. The team, which was in
China from July 31 - August 9, was
completely self-funded.
The team was headed by Dr. Kyoko
Ishige, director, Nihonmatsu Prefectural
Public Health Center and consisted of

Dai children in Xishuangbanna.

seven members of the Nihonmatsu, Hobara
and Fukushima prefectural public health
centers; Fukushima Health Service
Association; and other health-related
institutions. Arranged by JOICFP, the study
tour was joined by one JOICFP member.
By observing the actual situation of FP/
MCH and other health aspects in China,
the tour did much to deepen the under­
standing of the Fukushima officials. To
provide the participants with a broad view
of the health situation in China, the tour
included field observation in the IP area
of Jiangchuan County, Yuxi Prefecture,
and in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous
Prefecture. Both are located in Yunnan
Province on China’s southwest border.
Launched in 1990, the IP in Jiangchuan
County has succeeded in improving the
way of life at the grassroots. The infant
mortality rate (IMR) has fallen from
60.46%o to 30.63%o, while the contracep­
tive prevalence rate has increased from
61.22% to 92% between the end of 1989
and 1992. The crude birthrate, meanwhile,
has dropped from 2.3% in 1989 to 1.7%
in 1992.
During their stay, the Japanese visitors
were able to observe many of the activities
of the IP and speak with locals to gain an

A Broader View

ofFP/MCH
A group of internationally minded
Japanese gained insights into thefamily
planning (FP) and maternal and child
health (MCH) situation in China during
a study tour organized by JOICFPfrom
August 17 - 30.
The team of nine members was self­
funded and comprised representatives
from the public health and preventive
health field, the mass media and two
university students.
This year’s tour included visits to
two areas where the Integrated Project
(IP) is being implemented. The projects
in Qujiang County, Shaoguan City,
Guangdong Province, and Hepu County,
Guangxi Autonomous Region, were
launched in January this year under the
fourth phase of the IP. The study tour
also took in Hainan Province in the
south where the team visited Hainan
Island, a large island that occupies most
JOICFP NEWS, October 1993

A baby receives a checkup at a health
center in Beihai City, Guangxi
Autonomous Region.

of the province’s 35,730km2 of land.
During the observation in the project
areas, the team was briefed on all aspects
of the IP by local steering committees and
held discussions with local people involved
in the project. To observe IP activities, the
team visited such facilities as stations for
epidemic prevention, MCH and FP at the
county level as well as town hospitals,
farm houses and homes for the aged.
Launched only eight months ago, the
projects in the two areas are still in the
initial stages and have target populations

||

___ Si

I

Participants view a methane-gaspowered light in a farming family’s
house in Jiangchuan County.

understanding of the community
motivation behind the project successes.
In Xishuangbanna, meanwhile, the
team was introduced to the hardships
experienced by the people living in the
poor, mountainous areas of the prefecture.
Despite the area’s reputation as a popular
tourist spot, the team learned that parasite
infection is extremely high in some
communities and that the IMR is as high
as 120%o. The visitors were told that the
people of the prefecture were interested
in implementing the IP in the future.
An enlightening experience for the
Japanese visitors, the tour was effective
for deepening the understanding of the
health situation in China. Summing up
the experience, the team stressed the
importance of firsthand observation. [T]

of 47,300 and 42,188 in Qujiang and
Hepu counties, respectively. According
to the results of a baseline survey taken
last year, the infant mortality rate is
38.29%ofor Qujiang and 37%o for Hepu.
In both counties, socioeconomic status is
very low, while parasite infection is very
high. During their observation of the IP
areas, participants learned that the project
had already had a positive impact on the
awareness of the community people,
particularly through its various healthcare
and IEC activities.
The time spent in Hainan Province
offered a different perspective of FP in
China. Around 1.1 million of the
province’s 6.864 million people belong
to minority groups. Under the Minorities ’
Population Policy, groups such as
Hainan’s Li and Miao ethnic minority
groups are allowed to have two to three
children per couple.
Well-received by the team members,
the study tour provided insights of
different FP/MCH situations in China.
As such, it did much to deepen the
understanding of the tour participants of
the FP/MCH needs of people in
communities in China.
[J]

3

In the News

Building a Support Network Keys to Refining
A study tour to Vietnam, arranged by
JOICFP from July 26 - August 6, gave
Shojiro Kuroiwa, vice mayor of Yabe
Town, Suzaka City, an opportunity to
take a more active part in the international
cooperation activities set in motion in
Nagano Prefecture by his wife, Teruko
Kuroiwa. A member of the Suzaka
Women’s League, Teruko Kuroiwa has
carried out an active campaign to sup­
port health, community development
and women in development activities
promoted in Vietnam under the Integrat­
ed Project (IP) since returning to Japan
from a JOICFP-organized study tour
last year.
Impressed with the enthusiasm of the
people she met in IP communities in
Vietnam in 1992, Kuroiwa organized a
series of events to win support for wo­
men in Vietnam. Since her trip, she has
written a 12-part series of articles for
the local newspaper of Suzaka; organiz­
ed 20 lecture meetings; held three photo
exhibitions and published a booklet on
Vietnam. The proceeds of the book,
some US$1,500, have been used to
establish revolving funds in IP
communes.
Kuroiwa, who joined the 1992 tour as
a representative of the Nagano Chapter
of Women’s Leagues, has also been
instrumental in gaining further support
from members of the women’s leagues
for the IP in Vietnam. In 1992, the
Nagano chapter donated a total of
US$3,850 to the project. Most of the
funds have been used to support smallscale income-generating projects. Under
the scheme, families borrow US$50 to
set up small enterprises. Since the loan
system was established in 1991, all loans
have been repaid with interest. The
scheme, first launched in Nghi Long

FP Programs
A mix of senior administrators offamily
planning (FP) programs of government and
non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
made for very lively discussions during the
Seminar on Family Planning Administration
for Senior Officers II, held in Japan from
August 23 - September 10. Attended by 16
participants from 15 countries and one
observer, the seminar was marked by the
active involvement of participants in the
Tokyo sessions and keen interest in the
field observations in Oita Prefecture.
Exchange of Experiences
Women and children of Nghi Long
Commune in Nghe An Province.
Commune, Nghe An Province, has now
spread to 10 of the 70 communes where
the IP is implemented.
Women’s Network

To further expand the ties that have
been established between women in Japan
and Vietnam, this year’s study team
included two representatives of the
International Women’s Education
Association of Japan. The association,
which aims to establish a women’s net­
work in Asia, is planning a study tour to
Vietnam this year. The five other members
of the tour included the vice mayor, a
government official, two educators and a
midwife. All members were self-funded.
Aimed at deepening mutual
understanding between Japan and Vietnam
and strengthening the network in Japan to
support the Vietnamese people, the tour
included observation of IP activities in
four provinces. In Hanoi, the members
received a briefing on the IP in Vietnam at
the Ministry of Health and paid courtesy
calls to the Embassy of Japan and
UNFPA, where the members held
discussions with the country
director for Vietnam. The team
also visited Tu Du Hospital and
a family planning and maternal
and child health center in Ho
Chi Minh City.
Providing varied insights into
the health and community devel­
opment situation in Vietnam, the
study tour was welcomed by
participants as an effective ve­
hicle for creating awareness and
Participants examine IEC materials at a gaining support for the people in
| community health center in Long An Province. Vietnam.
[J]

4

A forum for the exchange of information
and experiences to improve FP program
administration, the seminar offered Japanese
postwar experiences in FP and maternal and
child health (MCH) and the country’s
demographic transition process as a case
study. The seminar was sponsored by the
Japan International Cooperation Agency
(JICA) and executed by JOICFP. Course
leader was Dr. Minoru Muramatsu, former
chairman, Population Association of Japan.
Providing participants with a broad
understanding of FP/MCH promotion in
postwar Japan and the activities of the
Integrated Project (IP), the Tokyo sessions
also offered insights into such issues as
adolescent health, IEC activities, reproduc­
tive health and AIDS. Participants showed
particular interest in the session on “Family
Planning and Reproductive Health: Taking a
Women’s Point of View,” presented by
Yuriko Ashino, deputy executive director,
Family Planning Federation of Japan (FPFJ).
The first of its kind, the session stimulated
active discussions among the participants.
Self-reliance Strategies

Throughout the seminar, participants
showed genuine interest in learning the keys
to the success of FP/MCH promotion in
Japan. Among the areas highlighted as
important to this success were the utilization
of midwives and public health nurses to
promote FP and the collaboration between
government organizations and NGOs.
Impressed with the high level of self-reliance
achieved in Japan, the participants were
especially interested in the self-reliance
strategies of the Japan Family Planning As­
sociation including the sale of IEC materials.
The field trip, the highlight of the seminar
for most participants, provided firsthand
observation of healthcare activities conducted
by both government and NGOs in Oita
Prefecture. In particular, participants were
impressed with the role played by Aiiku Han
MCH volunteers, who effectively promote
healthcare in rural communities in Japan.

JOICFP NEWS, October 1993

Opinion

3 Perspectives of Population & FP
Three participants of the Seminar on Family Planning Administration for
Senior Officers II spoke with JOICFP NEWS about the family planning
(FP) challenges in their countries and gave their impressions of the
seminar. Below are highlights of their comments.

Uganda
Bernice Nima, executive director,
Family Planning Association of
Uganda
The most outstanding challenge
facing the family planning association is
to change our orientation from an urban­
based clinic service to a rural delivery
system. We need to strengthen the
integrated approach and community­
based distribution to improve service
delivery. Integration is cost-effective
because the
same person
can provide
FP, MCH,
nutrition and
primary
health care
services. It
would also
confuse rural
populations
less if there
were not a
Nima
number of
people providing information.
Our next challenge is the program on
family life education (FLE) for our outof-school youth. Our third challenge is
to retrain our staff in the management
and counseling for AIDS.
Our fourth challenge is to strengthen
the association’s institutional capacity
and logistics for effective management.
Our fifth challenge is to explore and
strengthen collaboration with govern­
ment agencies, donors and other non­
governmental organizations involved not
only in FP, but in other related health
areas such as MCH, AIDS and safe
motherhood.
One point I would like to mention

about the FP/MCH field in Japan is the
importance of official support for health
projects. The government defines
policies and creates an official “motto”
or slogan for the mission. The community
then organizes and works towards that
slogan and can look back and see if those
objectives have been achieved. In this
way, there is official guidance and the
JOICFP NEWS, October 1993

government is actually involved in what is
going on at the grassroots.
Another point worth noting is the
effective use of volunteers. There is a
strong spirit of voluntarism in Japan and it
has been effectively exploited and used to
promote health. However, at the grassroots
level, I feel that women have been overused
and men’s groups have been under-used in
Japan. All the FP volunteers and MCH
volunteers here have been women. In our
situation, I would like to use both men’s
and women’s volunteer groups.
fa

J

’

*.

Saint Lucia
______________________
John La-Force, executive director,
Saint Lucia Planned Parenthood
Association (SLPPA)
Family Planning services are mainly
provided by the government. But the
government cannot do this on its own
because of financial limitations. At present,
it obtains contraceptives through the
USAID project, but this project will cease
in July 1994. I have a lot of fear that the
government will not be able to provide
contraceptives on its own accord through
the FP program in the future. Hopefully,
SLPPA will
be able to
obtain con­
traceptives
from IPPF to
fill the gap.
SLPPA is
not
selfreliant. We
realize 40%
of our budget
in local in­
come and
La-Force
depend on
IPPF for about 60%. This total still does
not cover our needs, especially in such
areas as IEC material production.
This seminar has been quite revealing
in terms of methods we can adopt to
promote self-reliance. On return to Saint
Lucia, I will try to come up with as many
ideas as possible to promote self-reliance
during meetings with the board. However,
self-reliance is always very difficult with a

very small population. Saint Lucia has a
population of about 138,000.
That is why we need to have regional
groupings such as the Organization of
Eastern Caribbean States to procure
supplies and produce IEC materials costeffectively.

Papua New Guinea
Dr. Onne Rageau, vice president,
Papua New Guinea Family Planning
Association
The total fertility rate of PNG is about
5.6 and our population is officially just
over 3 million. Realistically, however, I
think it is closer to 4 million.
One of the major problems we are
facing in FP
is the lack of
coordination
between the
Health
Department
and the FPA.
The govern­
ment makes
policies, but
they do not
reach down.
Only

the

Rageau

people in the
upper levels practice FP because they
know about its benefits.
One of the main things I have learned
from the seminar is the importance of
integration. In PNG, people are having
problems obtaining essential medical
services for such problems malaria,
chest infections and diarrhea. Health
centers in PNG are such in name only
and have virtually no drugs. Thus, most
villagers go to big hospitals to get medi­
cal services. Family planning, however,
is preventive healthcare and is best
promoted at the community level. It does
not work well to promote FP through the
big hospitals which are filled with sick
people. These people do not want FP.
Family planning should be integrated
with something that is not so technically
difficult to implement such as parasite
control. We should go to the communities
where the parasite infection rate is high;
provide treatment; show them that they
have parasites; and give them health talks
which include FP information. In this
way, we can involve the community. [J]
5

Exchanges

Extending a
Helping Hand
Local governments in Japan
strengthen support for people
in developing countries
A visit to Japan gave a government
official and project directors of the
Integrated Project (IP) in two African
countries a rare opportunity to express
their appreciation to members of the
Municipal Coordinating Committee for
Overseas Bicycle Assistance (MCCOBA)
for the support extended to the people of
their countries. In talks with local
government officials, Dr. Gottlieb
Mpangile, director ofprograms, Family
Planning Association of Tanzania
(UMATI), and director, IP, and Dr.
Mathewos Wakbulcho, coordinator, IP,
Ethiopia, explained that the support of
local Japanese governments is
contributing to improving the way of life
in IP communities. Dr. Mathewos was
accompanied on his visits to local
governments by Dr. Adem Ibrahim
Mohammed, director, Bureau ofHealth,
OromiaRegion, Ethiopia, an area where

UMATI Awarded
The Family Planning Association of
Tanzania (UMATI) was awarded this year
with the Matsushita Electric Union (MEU)
International Volunteer Activities Prize.
The MEU honor was the third for UMATI
which was awarded a prize of US$20,000
for its contribution to improving the quality
of life and the well-being of people living
at the grassroots in Tanzania. The
association was nominated as the most
worthy recipient of the award by the
government ofTanzania and by the workers
of the Matsushita Electric Co.’s factory in
Tanzania. Among UMATI’s activities
considered by the MEU for the award were
those being conducted under the Integrated
Project (IP). This year’s prizes were
targeted at non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) in Africa and were also awarded
to NGOs in Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire.
The MEU award was established in 1990
by the union to celebrate the company’s
45th anniversary and are viewed as a means
to establish solidarity among the workers
of the union and grassroots NGOs.
Christina Nsekela, executive director,
UMATI, officially received the prize from
the union on July 27 in Osaka, Japan.
6

City on September 6 and to
Mayor Shingo Amano of
Shizuoka City on September 13.
The two Ethiopians, meanwhile,
paid a courtesy call to Mayor
Masatada
Tsuchiya
of
Musashino City on September
6. They later visited Deputy
Mayor Nobuo Tomita of
ArakawaCity with Mpangile on
September 10.
Commenting on the bicycle
donations from MCCOBA,
Mpangile said that the bicycles
served as a source of motivation
to improve the effectiveness of
Musashino Mayor Masatada Tsuchiya (front) their work. “In rural areas where
means of transport are expensive
speaks with the two Ethiopian officials.
or scarce, the bicycles are a
the IP is implemented in rural commu­ working tool for the field workers who
conduct their home visits after they have
nities.
A pioneering body, MCCOB A has been finished their farm work,” he said. The
active in donating reconditioned bicycles bicycles are often used to carry goods
and other materials and equipment to and sick people, he added.
developing countries since 1988 to support
Motivating the Community
the promotion of integrated healthcare and
community development efforts at the
Noting the effectiveness of the
grassroots.
Comprising 14 local governments and donations, Mathewos said that notebooks
JOICFP, the organization sent a total of from Toshima City will be used as a
7,025 bicycles overseas by the end of 1992, motivational tool to promote health
3,175 of which were sent to Africa. Of the education among school children. “1
3,000 planned to be sent overseas this year, appreciate the donations because they
MCCOB A intends to send 2,400 to Africa. motivate the community,” he said.
In addition to bicycles, MCCOB A has also “When the people gather for distribution,
sent a range of other items such as we tell them the concept of the IP and
reconditioned treadle sewing machines to about family planning.” The IP director
support women in development activities. added that he hoped that further efforts
for technical transfer would be made in
the future to promote self-reliance among
Notebook Donations
the communities.
The Tanzanian representative also
The project got a boost this year from
Toshima City which donated 20,000 made time to pay a courtesy call to the
notebooks to support the IP. Produced Voluntary Deposit for International
with the support of the local cooperative Assistance (VDIA) of the Ministry of
of 180 printing companies in the city, the Posts and Communications on Septem­
notebooks are being sent abroad with the ber 13 where he met with Terutoshi
[j]
collaboration of the city office which Sano, director, VDIA Office.
budgeted to jointly cover the
bookbinding costs with the
cooperative. Arakawa City further
broadened the impact of these
activities by arranging for the
donation of pencils from the pencil
manufacturers’ cooperative in the
city. To date, 100,000 pencils have
been donated under the scheme
and are being sent abroad with the
notebooks within the spaces
between the bicycles in the ship­
ping containers.
During his stay in Japan,
Mpangile paid a courtesy call to Itabashi Mayor Teruo Ishizuka shakes hands
Mayor Teruo Ishizuka of Itabashi with Mpangile.

I .

JOICFP NEWS, October 1993

India & Nepal

Women Take Initiative
Mothers9 Clubs stimulate Indian women to seek better way of life

Project in Nepal
on T rack

Dr.D.N. Chatterjee,project director, organize meetings in the labor lines — the
The groundwork was laid in Nepalfor the
Integrated Parasite Control and Family rows of houses on the estates. Female
Welfare Project, Dooars Branch, Indian plantation workers are very busy. They implementation ofthe new UNFPA -supported
regional project entitled “Sustainable
Tea Association (ITA), spoke with have to work two shifts, both as workers on
Community-based FP/MCH Project with
JOICFP NEWS on July 20 about the the plantation and as mothers.
Special Focus on Women” during the visit by
project which is being implemented in
What we expect from the mothers’ a JOICFP mission, which was in the country
Dooars with the
clubs is that once or from July 27 - August 7. The project is to be
twioc a week an me implementea in me ----------- Sunsari
support of UNFPA
mothers
from District and the former Integrated Project
and UNICEF and the
adjoining houses sit (IP) area in Panchkhal, Kavre District.
technical cooper­
Joined by Project Coordinator Subarna
and talk together
ation of JOICFP.
Shrestha and resource person Savitri Basnet,
about anything they
Below is an outline of
the JOICFP mission visited Sunsari District.
have learned from us. Among the progress noted was the
this comments.
The content of these establishment of a district-level local steering
Our
project
talks may not be so committee and the formation of health
covers tea plantation
technical, but the committees in all six project villages. One of
workers and has three
important thing is that the major points discussed with committee
major components.
these talks stimulate members was the function of the steering
The first is parasite
thinking among the committees and the importance of maintaining
control. The second
a broad composition of people with different
women.
is family welfare,
We have found backgrounds and skills.
which
includes
D. N. Chatterjee
The visit also provided the mission with a
after establishing the
immunization,
good opportunity to distribute copies of
nutrition, maternal and child health, clubs that mothers have come up with their
JOICFP’s
control of communicable diseases and own priorities. Our project priority, is to
recent publi­
family planning. The third, is environ­ propagate the small family norm so that
cation: The
people can achieve a better quality of life.
Evaluation
mental sanitation.
Report of the
In 1991,1 attended the APCO training We also feel that every couple has a right
1 ntegrated
course in Bangkok where I heard about to decide the size of their family and has a
Family
the role of the mothers’ clubs in project right to the necessary information and
Planning and
implementation. This is how we came services. The mothers’ clubs, however,
Parasite
have chosen their own priorities. The
up the concept of establishing mothers’
Control
number
one
is
alcoholism,
a
problem
that
clubs under our project.
Project in
has been on the estates for a century.
Nepal. The
Thanks to these clubs, alcoholism has now
Mothers’ Clubs
publication
come down on a number of estates.
contains the
Another area in which they have been
Now each tea estate has a mothers’
results of an
independent
club. To form them, the trade union engaged is literacy. They have started
selects about 20 women workers from night classes on their own and are collecting A volunteer displays a evaluation
conducted by
each estate. We suggest that the women subscriptions and paying a literate person VDIA-supplied health kit.
Dr. Ramesh
to
conduct
them.
This
was
also
one
of
our
are literate, active in the community and
Kant
Adhikari
and
Jeev
Krishna
Shresta from
accepted by the community people. We objectives, but was not a primary one.
November 1 -17, 1992. The report was
Through this experience, I now feel
then give this group five days’ training in
welcomed by the people involved in the new
that we must first ascertain the local needs project as a source of strategies to improve
health and family welfare.
However, before we could start for any community project to succeed. If project effectiveness.
training these women, we had to train our you first satisfy the immediate local needs
Meanwhile, the mission also learned that
own staff. Communication is very it will help to get a project started. Then progress was being made in Panchkhal where
project workers and female volunteers have
important to this process because you can produce your own objectives.
Through the clubs, we have given received training. A total of 155 primary
illiteracy among the people of the estates
is about 60%. For women, only about 15 women a platform. Before, these women healthcare kits donated under the Voluntary
- 20% are literate. Therefore, we had to workers had no status. Even though women Deposit for International Aid (VDIA) scheme
earn more than their husbands because were also brought for distribution to personnel.
develop communication techniques.
In a meeting with members of the cooperation
There are 125 tea estates with a they are much better tea pluckers, the committee of Panchkhal, the mission also
population of half a million. The estates husband is the lord of the house. Now we discussed the project and various issues
are divided into seven sub-districts and have given them a kind of identity. The concerning its sustainability.
each of these has an area supervisor. club members wear a special sari with a
While in Nepal, the JOICFP mission paid
These people are my eyes and ears, are green border and carry a kit bag with some a courtesy call to the UNFPA Country Support
highly skilled communicators and are material when they go out to do project Team Office for South & West Asia and met
activities so that people know that the with Team Leader Shahida Azfar and team
the ones who organize the training.
[T| members Joo-Hyun Lee and Dr. Rita Thapa.
After the training, the mothers’ clubs mothers’ club is coming.

JOICFP NEWS, October 1993

7

Voice of Voices

ANNOUNCEMENT

By Chojiro Kunii

Going to China
Two years ago, after I made a decision to
visit China this year, my daily life began to
change dramatically. My afternoons were
spent taking slow walks around my
neighborhood using a walker for support. I
was determined to rehabilitate my body after
my long illness to ensure that I was strong
enough to meet with my old friends in Beijing.
My colleagues in Tokyo were going to
accompany me to Chino
i
tw
. ^.niiiisce about the events of the last 10 years
with our Chinese friends. This trip would
also provide an opportunity for me to show
my appreciation to the people in Fukushima
Prefecture who have received study tours of
Chinese visitors over the last 10 years.
I viewed the trip as a high point of my life’s
work. In Beijing, our colleagues from
government and non-governmental bodies
were waiting. These were the people who
have been tackling China’s population
problem through activities in the maternal
and child health and community develop­
ment fields for the last 30 years.
Integrated Project

Thanks to ourjoint efforts in the last decade,
the philosophy of the Integrated Project (IP)
of Japan has been accepted in China at the
township, county and village levels in regions
as far as Inner Mongolia and Yunnan Province.
On the morning of the ceremony held in
Beijing on June 12 to mark the 10th
anniversary of the IP in China, government
officials welcomed us with speeches. That
afternoon, during the ceremony at the Great
Hall of the People, I was deeply moved by the
project experiences that were recounted by
people from different walks of life who have
been involved in the IP.
In the villages, the IP philosophy from
Japan has won the hearts of a broad spectrum
of people including village leaders, the elderly
and mothers. The Chinese people have related
to what we Japanese experienced in the years
after WWII. China has also undergone many
changes since the the People’s Republic of
China was established in 1949. More recently,
the Chinese people have been steering a course
toward peace and development. In particular,
rapid development that has been taking place
in coastal zones and this has been getting a lot
of attention in the media.
In Taicang County near Shanghai, we
attended a ceremony at the building site of the
IP Training Center. In her address, Peng Yu,
vice minister of the State Family Planning
Commission, commended the Japanese
efforts and expressed her high hopes for the
Training Center. The center’s approximately
13,000 m2 site has already been prepared.
The ceremony in Taicang was very moving
for me. As I looked back on the hard work
that led up to this event, I quietly prayed for
the success of the Training Center.
[J]

8

The Workshop for the Production of Video Script on Women’s Health
JOICFP is organizing the above workshop under the joint auspices of UNFPA and
IPPF.
Date:
November 29 - December 4, 1993
Venue:
Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture, Japan
Participants: Representatives from Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Hong
Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri
Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, UNFPA, IPPF and other related agencies
To produce a regional prototype video script to facilitate the production
Objective:
of a video which promotes awareness of women’s health issues
Note: Self-funded observers are welcome to attend this workshop. For further
details, please contact JOICFP.
Juliet Richters, lecturer, Department of
Public Health, University of Sydney, visited
JOICFP on Aug. 27 to exchange information
on women’s health and FP in Japan.
*
*
*

DIARY
JOICFP Program Officer Aiko lijima was in
Nepal and Thailand from July 26 - Aug. 7 to
hold discussions on the “Sustainable Commu­
nity-based FP/MCH Project with Special Focus
on Women” and the use of VDIA funds.
*
*
*
An eight-member study group headed by Dr.
Kyoko Ishige, director, Nihonmatsu Health
Center, Fukushima Prefecture, was in China
from July 31 - Aug. 9 to observe IP areas. The
mission was accompanied by JOICFP Program
Officer Yukio Honma.
*
*
*

Mark Mellman, researcher, Mellman Lazarus
Lake, Inc., visited JOICFP on Aug. 3 to gather
information on FP in Japan and Japanese
international cooperation activities for a re­
search program of the Rockefeller Foundation.
*
*
*
JOICFP (Documentary Series
A New Documentary Film_______

Maria

A nine-member study team was in China
from Aug. 17 - 30 to observe IP areas. The
mission was accompanied by JOICFP
program officers Yukio Honma and
Yoshitatsu Kanno.
*
*
*
JOICFP Program Officer Ryoko Nishida
was in the Philippines from Aug. 29 - Sept.
3 to discuss the UNFPA-supported regional
project entitled “Sustainable Community­
based FP/MCH Project with Special Focus
on Women” with officials of the Department
of Health and UNFPA.
*
*
*

Dr. Nafis Sadik, executive director, UNFPA,
was in Japan from Sept. 5 - 9 to give a series
of lectures in Tokyo, Kobe and Yamanashi
Prefecture and to meet Japanese govern­
ment officials and members of parliament.
She also attended the funeral ceremony
on Sept. 8 for the late Kazutoshi Yamaji,
senior adviser and former chairman of
JOICFP. She was accompanied by Dr.
Hirofumi Ando, deputy executive director,
UNFPA, who was in Japan from Sept. 1 -10.

33 mins., Color; English, Spanish, Japanese

New Appointment

it
Hk

Dr. Muneo Yokogawa, professor
emeritus, Chiba University, was
appointed chairman of the Japan
Parasite Control Association (JAPC)
on September 1, 1993.
J

Our latest documentary film features two Marias
from Guatemala — a country over 50 percent of
whose population is comprised of indigenous people.
Nana Maria, a traditional birth attendant and faith
healer who still follows the Mayan tradition closely, strives

to protect the health and decrease the burden of the
women in her village. Citydweller Maria Teresa wishes
to get closer to indigenous women like Nana Maria.
This touching film outlines the awakened women
trying to protect themselves through action.
Distributed by

Sakura Motion Picture Co., Ltd.
Yoyogi Center Bldg,, 57-1 Yoyogi Ichome
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151, Japan
Tel. 81-3-33206311/Fax: 8I-3-332O7666
Telex: J34799ITCINBTH

16mm »VTR (Beta, VHS/NTSC, PAL, SECAM)

JOICFP NEWS is a monthly newsletter
published by the Japanese Organization for
International Cooperation in Family Planning,

Inc. (JOICFP).
JOICFP NEWS welcomes your comments,
suggestions and contributions. Please mail to:

JOICFP NEWS
Hoken Kaikan Bekkan
1-1, Sadohara-cho, Ichigaya
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162 Japan
Phone: 81-3-3268-5875
Facsimile: 81-3-3235-7090
Telex: 2324584 JOICFP J
Cable Address: JOICFP Tokyo

JOICFP NEWS, October 1993
Media
NO. 232 OCTOBER 1993.pdf

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