|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||
Home 
NewsNewsletter - Events
and Activities - Publications
Japan Grant
Japanese Government Supports Education for Peace
22 October 2002 - (Sarajevo) Representatives at the Japanese Embassy in Sarajevo have signed a final contract between the Japanese Government and the International Education for Peace Institute, an affiliate non-profit agency of Landegg International University.
As an important step in the evolution of the EFP project, this contract will provide over 45,000 Euros (approx. $44,000 US) for the support of a three-day training on creating a "Culture of Healing", being held in Tuzla, Bosnia & Herzegovina, from 25 to 27 October.
Present on the occasion of the signing were Mr. Mitsunori Namba, Chargé d'Affaires of the Japanese Embassy in Sarajevo; Dr. Mari Katayanagi, Senior Consultant of the Japanese Embassy in Sarajevo, Ms. Naghmeh Sobhani, Director of EFP-Balkans and Ms. Nyambura Mwagiru, Program Officer for EFP-Balkans.
This was the first initiative in the area of educational training funded by the Japanese government. It was Dr. Katayanagi's guidance and persistent efforts during the lengthy application process that eventually secured this formal support of her government for Education for Peace, as it required the enactment by the Japanese Ministries of both Foreign Affairs and Finance of a new funding policy and regulations for this new category of support.
In thanking Mr. Namba on behalf of Landegg International University, Ms. Sobhani pointed out the wider significance of the funds from the Japanese government. "They are not only supporting a particular training event", she said, "but are making it possible for more teachers, students, parents and staff to gain the skills necessary to contribute to the transition in BiH to new modes of governance, designed to cultivate and sustain a culture of peace in this war-torn country".
Mr Namba emphasized the importance of the goals and vision of EFP and of supporting not only the "hardware" of education, the physical and mechanical reconstruction of schools, but the "software" such as that offered by Education for Peace. This enables us to "fill the gap between restoration of the schools and the need to foster the healing, self-empowerment and rebuilding of a nation within the framework of the principles of peace", he said. Mr. Namba acknowledged that the support being given to EFP by the Japanese government was the first of its kind to grass root projects dealing with education. He went on to express the hope that this grant would be the first step for his government in a fruitful, ongoing relationship with the Education for Peace project, which he called "a pioneering effort that is sure to reap many benefits for all who are involved".
Referring to the close collaboration now established between the Head Office of Education for Peace-BiH and the Japanese Embassy in Sarajevo, Mr. Namba expressed particular enthusiasm for the possible introduction of the EFP program to the directors of the 11 schools now being restored by the Japanese government and the decision to invite representatives from these schools to the training event funded by his government.
In concluding the meeting, Mr. Namba expressed the hope that the Japanese government would continue its support of Education for Peace in the future, given its evident success with both participants and governing bodies of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the promise it holds for expansion to other countries.
