As part of a CWS-designed and Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs-funded project, 11 Afghans from national and local government entities, and civil society, including NGO and community representatives from Nangahar Province, gathered recently in New Delhi, India to meet CWS team members and partner (Japan Conservation Engineers, Co. Ltd.) staff. The group came together for […]

Earlier this year, Yasmin returned to Afghanistan from refugee camp in Peshawar, Pakistan with her husband and seven children. Her refugee experience started when she was a child herself – just five years old! And, the conditions she faced through the years were horrific, including terrible living environment and forced early marriage due to her […]

While our U.S.-based team has been responding to hurricanes in Texas and Florida, our team in Japan has been responding to flooding caused by unusually heavy July rains in northern Kyushu island. Tragically, 36 people died in the flooding and aftermath. CWS has deployed Program Officer Yukiko Maki to help coordinate this response to unprecedented […]

Heavy July rains caused massive flooding and disaster in northern Kyushu Island, which is the third largest and most southwesterly of Japan’s four main islands. Tragically, at least 36 people died during the flooding and aftermath. To support our ecumenical partners in Japan, CWS was fortunate to be able to deploy Program Officer Yukiko Maki […]

The Sphere handbook is vital to ensuring quality and accountability to those affected by disasters, and it is one of the most widely used tools in the humanitarian sector. Now in the middle of a year-long revision process with CWS Japan’s Country Representative, Takeshi Komino serving as chapter lead for the Core Humanitarian Standards section, […]

Recently, 10 Afghan citizens representing government and civil society (community development councils and non-government organizations/NGOs), joined a ‘technical transfer’ workshop about hazard mapping and disaster risk reduction (DRR) that was organized by CWS Japan in collaboration with Japan Conservation Engineers Co. Ltd. and funded by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During their time in Tokyo, […]

One significant take away from the recent Global Platform for DRR (GPDRR) in Cancun, Mexico is that implementation of Sendai Framework for DRR should be in its full swing by now; and, to advance further, different sectors must talk more about a common vision. In order to decrease disaster losses, there is quite a lot […]

With the Sphere Handbook going through a major revision now, a new version is on track to be launched in early 2018! Major changes will include the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) replacing the former Core Standard section, and much clearer guidance and coherence throughout the technical chapters, and stronger emphasis of cross-cutting themes. Consultation among […]

CWS Japan, along with Japan Platform and Save the Children Japan, participated in a visit to Washington DC organized by Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE). The objective of the visit was to learn how different stakeholders contributed to the growth of NGO sector in the US. The visit allowed us to learn that all […]

The Sphere handbook, a widely used minimum standard guide for humanitarian response, is going to go through a major revision process in 2017, and Takeshi Komino has been designated as a chapter lead for a revised Core Standard section which will be replaced by new Core Humanitarian Standards. There will be stakeholder consultation process mid-year, […]

With funding from Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), and in partnership with an experienced company recognized for its disaster risk reduction (DRR) work, CWS Japan initiated a DRR project in Afghanistan with the dual aim to transfer technical capacity for hazard mapping and also to strengthen policy work in support of community-based DRR efforts. […]

Organized by the Asian Disaster Reduction and Response Network (ADRRN), Integrated Research on Disaster Risk, UNOCHA, and UNDP, the inaugural Regional Innovation Forum-Asia (RIF-Asia) was held recently in Bangkok, Thailand. CWS Japan took a lead role in Forum planning because of its significant experience and expertise in the sector and also because of its role […]

In late November, CWS Japan and The Japan Platform (JPF) hosted Afghan DRR stakeholders for a study tour in Japan. The visit aimed to strengthen the relationship between DRR actors in the two countries so they can follow up on both policy and practical DRR measures for Afghanistan through the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority […]

To mark World Tsunami Awareness Day which was adopted by UN General Assembly with recommendation from Japan, an International Symposium, “Towards resilient recovery through multi-stakeholder participation,” was held recently at World Bank’s Tokyo office. CWS Japan was instrumental in organizing the event Among other topics, the symposium considered the case the East Japan Earthquake and […]

CWS Japan wouldn’t have been established if there had not been the 2011 East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. Actually, it was more like a fateful ‘comeback’ of CWS to Japan. CWS Japan did exist 70 years ago during the postwar period for the mission of LARA. The name LARA has gained renown nationwide due to […]

Five months after the devastating 7.0 [Richter scale] magnitude earthquake in Kumamoto, Japan, the Kumamoto YMCA-managed evacuation center at Mashiki Gymnasium will close. As such it is the last of 18 centers originally opened to help evacuees from Mashiki-town, one of the hardest hit areas. Since there are still 200 people living there, and not […]

By the time that the East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami struck Japan in 2011, I had been an international aid worker for years. I had been part of CWS emergency response efforts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Myanmar and Thailand already. As a Japanese national, I was always “an expat” in my work. Generally, things had to […]