From 1st to 31st May, JOICFP will participate in EXPO 2005 in Nagoya. It is anticipated that approximately 15 million visitors may come to the expo throughout the duration. The expo is notable in that this is the first time for NGOs to be officially invited and participate in the Expo since the first World EXPO in London in 1851.

see>>e-news/2004_dec/13-EXPOForEnews.php
see>>e-news/2005_mar/12-Expo_2005.php

This expo is an opportunity for JOICFP to develop new target audiences who are not familiar with NGO activities, and who have previously not shown interest in development issues.

Through a series of workshops supported by EXPO 2005, the thirty participating NGOs received training from one of Japan's top advertising agencies on promotion and fund raising activities. Topics included planning awareness campaigns, how to formulate press releases, and ways to symbolize advocacy to make issues easily understandable.

JOICFP has invited representatives from counterpart agencies to convey the real situation of deliveries and lives of pregnant women, as well as actions taken to promote safe motherhood in their respective countries, to the general public.

A photo exhibition by international photographer Masako Imaoka will be held in the expo. Imaoka is known for her images showing the difficulties of women's lives. She documented images of JOICFP's project area in Ghana in 2003, and will accompany JOICFP to Banda Aceh, Indonesia in April. Images from Ghana, the tsunami-hit-region in Indonesia, and her images on the theme of Women, Mothers and Children will be displayed in the exhibition to help in raising awareness.