Our Programs

Expanding Access to SRHR Information and Services Worldwide

JOICFP is a leading NGO in implementing international projects in developing countries. Our activities spread to over 30 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, where community remains at the heart of all projects.
Our ultimate goal is to realize sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) worldwide, including family planning, maternal and child health, adolescent SRHR and HIV/AIDS interventions. We promote these activities through an integrated approach, which we conduct hearings of community needs and support the incorporation of necessary structures and technology for realizing SRHR, and help community individuals build their capacity as SRHR activists. Specifically, we provide capacity building, developing teaching materials for Behavior Change Communication (BCC), enhancing networking in community, provision of equipment, and establishment and maintenance of facilities such as a maternity health ward.

 
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Advocating for SRHR and Women’s Empowerment

JOICFP takes extensive and various approaches to promote its advocacy activities, which aim to create awareness on SRHR and gender issues and mobilize resources for these fields. The international community has witnessed notable progress in some areas of SRHR. Nonetheless, a sizeable majority of women still suffer from lack of access to SRHR information, care and services. Improving maternal health, for instance, continues to be one of the targets in Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDGs) which succeeds the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The involvement of governments to increase financial commitments, implementation of gender sensitive programs, universal services such as universal health coverage (UHC) and legal reforms is still pending worldwide. To increase support for SRHR worldwide, JOICFP advocates locally, regionally, and internationally to Members of Parliament, governmental organizations (GOs), opinion creators, mass media, business sectors and international organizations through networks with civil societies (CSOs) worldwide. For instance, through regular dialogue with Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), JOICFP seeks to increase Official Development Assistance (ODA) for SRHR and influence Japanese policy on SRHR and women’s empowerment including defending the funding to IPPF (International Planned Parenthood Federation). Newsletters and symposiums organized by JOICFP also serve to enhance awareness.

Building Capacity for the Next Generation

Since 1968, JOICFP has been conducting training programs, often in collaboration with JICA, for more than 5600 participants from 87 countries to promote sustainable SRHR activities. Participants, mainly workers of NGO and public sectors in developing countries, often learn practices in specific communities in Japan by field visits. Themes of training programs aim at not only improving maternal health, but also nutrition improvement and Universal Health Coverage which Japan achieved in early 1960s. In planning these training programs, JOICFP refers to Japan’s 70-year experience after World War II of integrating maternal and child health and family planning services, and on its own almost 50-year experience in community-based sexual and reproductive health programs in developing countries. Also, JOICFP experts conduct lectures and workshops to Japanese educational institutions such as high schools and universities to raise awareness on SRHR issues worldwide including Japan.

Creating Awareness in Japan

JOICFP mobilizes resources from Japan civil and cooperate societies to support activities of local NGOs in developing countries. Resources ranges from donation, cause items, social business, and charity events such as White Ribbon Run. As examples of cause items for instance, more than 82,000 reconditioned bicycles have been donated to 91 Member Associations(MAs) of IPPF since 1989, and Japanese school bags called randoseru, have been donated from all over Japan every year and presented to Afghanistan MA to support education especially for girls since 2004.
JOICFP also work inside of Japan. From March 2011 to March 2016, JOICFP conducted relief activities for the Great East Japan Earthquake, targeting women and mothers in particular. We received support from all over the world, not only from Japan civil/cooperate societies, but also from counterparts of JOICFP and international organizations.
 
In order to increase awareness of the general public on SRHR and generate funds for the issue, JOICFP conducts various campaigns to promote SRHR such as holding events and seminars open to general public to disseminate SRHR issues of the global mainstream discussions as well as to share stories of women and girls collected from local communities of our project sites. Website updates, e-mail magazines, newsletters, and SNS articles also serve to enhance awareness.
 
For the promotion of SRHR and Global Maternal Health, JOICFP work in partnership with international networking NGOs such as International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood (WRA).
 
We involve private companies and foundations to generate funds and resources to tackle the issue of global SRHR by co-hosting SRHR campaigns or creating commodities for fundraising.
 
We work closely with the media and activists who have high profile in Japan. For media, press release, media study sessions, press conference and press tours are organized. For the activists, study sessions and study tours are organized updating their knowledge and information on SRHR as well as increasing their commitment to the issue.
  
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