THEMIDDLEEAST

JORDAN VALLEY
Peace through agriculture
Anybody
Understand
Anything?
t
he explosion that rocked the Arab world had
an unlikely beginning. In the sleepy southern Tunisian
town of Sidi Bouzid 200 kilometers south of the cap-
ital, Tunis, police seized a street cart full of fruit and
vegetables from a local seller, Mohamed Bouazizi, a
routine incident of petty harassment.
EGYPT Protecting heritage, promoting tourism Until that moment on December 17, 2010, Tunisia had
JORDAN had the reputation of being one of the most stable and pros-
Tourism is important perous of Arab nations. Casual police intimidation was com-
in the Middle East
monplace and tolerated. But just below the surface, massive
social discontent had been brewing for years from the shores
of the Atlantic Ocean, Tunisia, Egypt, the biblical Palestinian
lands to the scorching, oil rich Gulf states and Iraq.
When Bouzid self-immolated, his death sparked a re-
gion-wide military, political and social restorm. Autocratic
and military regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen
fell and a wildly popular and spontaneous Arab Spring
promised sweeping social and economic change, much as
the 1968 Prague Spring began an era of liberalization in the
then Soviet-occupied country of Czechoslovakia.
Uprisings rarely run smoothly or evenly, however. Though
there has been genuine progress in some areas, doubt, con-
fusion, setback and conict also scar the nascent Middle
East dream.
A popular car sticker in the Egyptian capital of Cairo
sums up todays mood of bewildered apprehension: Any-
body Understand Anything?
While the bitter civil war in Libya or the fall of Egypts
long serving President Hosni Mubarak captured world head-
lines, a recent regional poll underlined the real driving forces
EGYPT behind the upheavals: most respondents emphasized de-
THE WEST BANK Results of the mands for better employment, education, healthcare and
The Corridor of Peace Arab Spring: the end of corruption.
takes shape Voting
And while Japan, through its major development organi-
zation, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA),
offered new and immediate support to promote and strengthen
EGYPT Bridge over troubled waters emerging democratic reforms, most importantly, it has been
working quietly for years to also achieve those long-standing
basic demands of the newly empowered Arab street.
Japan has few historical connections with the Middle
East. Its name is rarely mentioned in political and military
discussions which are dominated by the United States,
Britain, France, Russia, the United Nations, Israel and
JORDAN other regional countries.
Helping poor mothers JORDAN Helping the disabled But as a nation with few natural resources Japan imports
50% of its petroleum from the Middle East, making the
events there of vital importance to Tokyo.
And despite a low-key approach which means its role
JORDAN Helping through music goes largely unnoticed in most parts of the world, JICA has
become a key, almost silent partner in promoting regional
development to ensure political and social equality.
It is a role similar to one in Afghanistan where Japan does
not contribute directly to NATO military forces in that coun-
try, but runs a massive civilian aid program in areas such as
health, education, community and economic development.
(Continued on page 5)
IRAQ EGYPT
Creating micro
Rebuilding vital industries
2 JICAS WORLD APRIL 2012 infrastructure APRIL 2012 JICAS WORLD 3
THE MIDDLE EAST
Anybody
Understand
Anything?
THE WORLDS OLDEST CITY: A
The ruins of Jericho
O
n the edge of Jericho, reputedly the
worlds oldest city, workmen are busily laying
the foundations for something which hope-
fully will represent a new and better future for the
troubled region.
Long concrete rows glint in a watery sunshine as
the occasional tourist bus visits nearby historical sites
such as Herods Palace and the few remaining crum-
bling bricks of the famed walls of Jericho which en-
circled the city as long as 10,000 years ago.
The agro- Solar photovoltaic panels will soon be installed
on the concrete platforms and by the end of 2012
industrial park the rst units of an envisaged agro-industrial park
is the jewel in should be operational, processing and canning the
tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, water melons,
the crown of a citrus, herbs, oranges and other fruits and vegetables
project from the rich soil and farms of the Jordan Valley.
The agro-industrial park is the jewel in the crown
promoted by of a project promoted by Japan since 2006 known
Japan since as the Corridor of Peace and Prosperity.
It is a concept designed not only to help raise the
2006 known as
living standards of local communities but also to pro-
the Corridor of mote collaboration and friendlier ties between the
peoples and administrations who share these biblical
Peace and but troubled landsIsrael, Jordan and the Palestin-
Prosperity. ian Authorityand to eventually help create a viable
Palestinian state.
Only recently it seemed like an empty desert
here, says JICAs Palestine Representative Eiji Kubo,
surveying what has now become a busy building site.
As the foundations of the agro-industrial park are
established, other industries are already moving to
4 JICAS WORLD APRIL 2012
the area, attracted by the creation of a modern infra-
structure of roads, water, waste treatment, land recla-
mation and power.
There are steel, plastic and soft drink companies
moving here. Eiji Kubo said it will have the additional
benet of creating more jobs in the Palestinian terri-
tories and surrounding area.
Hideaki Yamamoto, Japans Deputy Representa-
tive to the Palestine National Authority, a diplomat
with many years of experience in the region and a
key originator of the Corridor of Peace concept, said
it had taken a long time in the initial phase but
now we are at a moment of truth. We must accelerate
our efforts.
If the Corridor of Peace is the most visible project,
Japan and JICA have long been involved in other re-
gional programs which support both the corridor
concept and the wider yearnings of people through-
out the Middle East region and highlighted so dra-
matically by the Arab Spring for better jobs, education
and health.
Japan nanced the construction of a new King
Hussein Bridge between the Palestinian West Bank
and Jordan and access roads there and the creation
of a new Sheikh Hussein Bridge between Israel and
Jordan and border facilities there which will help fa-
cilitate the movement of goods and people and the
export of agricultural products from the Jordan Valley.
Since 2007 Japanese and other experts have been
helping to improve agricultural techniques, marketing
and nance for local farmers and revive the regions
famed melon production. They will continue to work
NEWFUTURE?
until 2014 to help small and medium-sized farmers
to respond to larger market opportunities envisaged
through such projects as the agro-industrial park.
Other experts are helping the ofcial Palestinian
Industrial Estates and Free Zones Authority, which
is creating three indus-
trial zones, in areas such
as marketing the re-
gions economic and in-
dustrial potential.
As many as 3,000
municipal staff have re-
ceived advanced training
and the Japanese gov-
ernment allocated US$11
million to build access
roads, schools, clinics and
social centers for women.
Jericho and surround-
ing historical sites already attract an estimated
700,000 visitors annually, and Japanese expert Kei-
ichiro Takadera has helped promote the vast tourism
potential of the region.
To meet concerns that a region studded with mil-
itary checkpoints and barriers in the Palestinian ter-
ritories restricting free movement would adversely
impact on maternal health, JICA in 2005 helped
develop and then distribute a handbook on maternal
and child health to help the estimated 66,000 babies
born each year in the West Bank and three experts
are currently helping to train both nurses and doctors
in advanced maternal procedures.
Continued from page 3
STRENGTHENING DEMOCRACY
In the early days of the Arab Spring,
particularly in Tunisia, Egypt, and Morocco JICA
sought to directly boost emerging democratic forces
and it was Japans low-key and neutral background
which appealed to new leaderships.
We have received many offers from international
society but most countries have (hidden) political
motivations, declared Egyptian Planning and In-
ternational Cooperation Minister Fayza Aboulnaga.
Japan has provided serious assistance to Arab coun-
tries without political intervention. Thats why we
ask Japan for help.
Experts were dispatched and an Egyptian High
Election Committee was provided with vital equip-
ment to help conduct fair and transparent voting.
Seminars were held to explain Japans own party
and election systems, its own democratization since
its defeat in World War II and, for the media, how
to effectively cover future elections.
This year Kazuyoshi Kuroda celebrated 20 years
helping emerging democraciesin Cambodia, South
Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, the Balkans, Pak-
istan, Indonesia and Palestine. In East Timor he
suffered his worst ever moment when he was at-
tacked by crazed militia at a polling station as he
tried to protect local ofcials and the ballot boxes.
Nevertheless, he describes the year he has spent
The agro-industrial in Egypt as the most difcult of my entire career
park takes shape
for a variety of reasons: the volatile situation on the
ground; JICAs relatively new exposure to such is-
sues; the extreme sensitivity and delicacy of working
in one of the worlds proudest and most ancient of
civilizations, unstitching centuries of domestic rules,
regulations and administration and combining the
best of those parts with modern democratic proce-
dures; and avoiding any perception of imposing so-
lutions on Egypts more than 83 million people.
There have been bumps in the road in the last
year, he said. But the most important part of the
election process has been completed. Operationally
it has been a success.
And whither goes Egypt, other parts of the Mid-
dle East will follow. Whatever is achieved in Egypt
will greatly inuence other countries in the area,
the democracy expert said as he concluded a years
work in the region.
A rainbow over the
Jordan Valley
DIVERSE SOLUTIONS
Achieving the diverse aims of an often frus-
trated, young populationthe Arab populace has
doubled in three decades to around 360 million and
half that population is under 25requires an equally
diverse approach. International experts have often
disagreed on what development areas to prioritize at
any particular point in the cyclelarge-scale eco-
nomic projects, infrastructure, social projects? De-
veloping countries themselves rarely have the re-
sources to adequately tackle individual problem spots
let alone a series of crises.
Continued on page 7
APRIL 2012 JICAS WORLD 5
THE MIDDLE EAST
Anybody
Understand
Anything?
AN ANCIENT CIVILIZATION ON THE MOVE
Japanese experts
and volunteers at
work at the museums
conservation center
with Egyptian
counterparts
O
ne of the worlds most
ancient, and stunning, civ-
ilizations is on the move:
literally. For several years past, and
for several more years to come, some of historys most
famous and irreplaceable treasuresabout 5,000
items from the tomb of King Tutankhamun, the solar
JICA has played boat of King Khufu, a statute of King Rameses II, all
stars of Egypts Pharaonic periodare being gath-
a vital role in ered together in a new home in the shadow of the
creating the Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops), itself one of the Seven
Wonders of the Ancient World on the Giza Plateau
Grand Egyptian outside Cairo.
Museum, Ten thousands items have already been moved.
When the new Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) is
providing a ofcially opened in 2015, it will house 100,000
US$450 million pharaonic items.
Reputedly the worlds largest archaeological mu-
loan. seum, it will attract an estimated eight million visitors
annually, stand on a 50 hectare site and include an
already opened convention center, teaching facilities
for children and aspiring craftsmen in ancient arts,
a conference center, auditoriums, and a virtual mu-
seum. Furthermore, it will be linked electronically
to other museums around the world.
JICA has played a vital role in creating GEM, pro-
viding a US$450 million loan for building construc-
tion, design, landscape and ICT design, training
some 152 Egyptian conservators, scientists and Egyp-
6 JICAS WORLD APRIL 2012
tologists and creating a database of artifacts, many
of which even today are not accurately catalogued.
Japans ofcial development agency views such
projects as not only helping preserve a countrys and
the worlds most important cultural identities, but
also through promoting tourism directly helping
modern communities, not only in Egypt but in other
regional areas such as Jordan and the Palestinian
territories, to raise their own standards of living and
preserve their own living identities.
One recent day at the new conservation center
31-year-old volunteer Akiko Sugimoto from Sapporo
was diligently working with Egyptian colleagues on
the new, years-long database project.
Next door, Japanese experts from the Nippon Ex-
press company were teaching local crews how to
safely pack the smallest and most delicate of articles
in ne safety wrapping or using rigging equipment
to shift bulkier items.
Every single piece will be moved, principally from
Egypts current central museum overlooking Cairos
Tahrir Square, birthplace of the countrys Arab
Spring, to the new museum.
It took more than one year of military-style plan-
ning at a cost of nearly US$1 million to move the 83-
ton, 3,200 year-old statue of King Rameses II inch
by inch for nine hours from in front of Cairos railroad
location to its new site.
Nippon Express General Manager of Fine Arts
Business Division Yasuhiro Goto gushed that apart
from military campaigns, the current move was
probably the largest, most delicate such operation in
recent history.
Thus far there have been no mishaps. Once each
article reaches the conservation area they will be in-
spected and documented in one of nine laboratories,
some needing a little rst aid while others will re-
quire intensive conservation treatment.
Like Egypt, Jordan and the neighboring Palestin-
ian territories are rich in biblical sites and such nat-
ural wonders as Wadi Rum, where the Hollywood
movie Lawrence of Arabia was largely shot and Petra,
the rose red city half as old as time, and tourism is an
important economic local stimulus.
A Japanese expert has been helping to exploit the
attractions of Jericho, reputedly the worlds oldest
city (see page 4), and JICA has nanced the training
of experts and the building or rehabilitation of mu-
seums at the Dead Sea, Amman, Salt and the cru-
sader town of Kerak.
(Continued from page 5)
In the Middle East, as elsewhere, JICA supports
a judicious mix of large and small projects covering a
spectrum of problem areas. A 2008 international
conference hosted by Japan called the Tokyo Inter-
national Conference on African Development
(TICAD IV) recognized the importance of building
a strong basic infrastructureroads, ports, water
systems, bridges, hospitals and schoolswhich
would act as a springboard to tackling other issues.
A strong infrastructure should underpin sustain-
able economic growth, which in turn will produce
more and better jobs, and a stronger human safety
net for entire populationshealth, education, gen-
der equality and the elimination of other social dis-
parities. The 2015 U.N. Millennium Development
Goals, strongly supported by JICA, is a comprehen-
sive roadmap toward resolving those kind of issues.
Between 2005-2009 JICA allocated nearly
US$9 billion in outright grant aid, a further US$6
billion in loan assistance and US$608 million to
implement technical projects to Arab countries.
It dispatched its own staff, senior and junior vol-
unteers and experts throughout the region to help
implement projects, provide invaluable direct ex-
pertise and to improve the skills of thousands of
local ofcials both at home and in Japan and in so-
called third-country training sessions.
Tokiko Sato, JICAs senior advisor on population,
reproductive health and community health, for in-
stance, has been active in the Middle East since the
1990s and was recently touring poor Jordanian vil-
lages to liaise with local health educators promoting
family planning (see page 15).
Dr. Shinji Naruo is advisor to Egyptian Planning
Helping to create Minister Fayza Aboulnaga helping to shape a radi-
a new system of cally new ve-year Development Plan which will
museums in Jordan nudge Egypt towards a broad market economy,
restructuring nationwide subsidies, international
support, reliance on dwindling natural resources
and strengthening private enterprise. Several other
Japanese experts are helping to overhaul the coun-
trys national accounts system.
WATER, WATER
Throughout the region, JICA has been
heavily involved in water and waste management
projects. In Morocco water programs have benet-
ted an estimated 7.1 million people, in Tunisia 8 mil-
lion people and in Syria 1.7 million.
A 1990s scheme doubled the supply of water to
the Jordanian capital, Amman, and a current proj-
ect is helping to train water personnel, build reser-
voirs, make more efcient use of agricultural water
and transform the very way water is delivered to
homes and businesses.
JICA experts for years have worked with Egypt-
ian ofcials to more effectively harness the waters of
the Nile River, rehabilitating major regulators, or
dams, and most recently upgrading farm irrigation
systems and strengthening both government and
(Continued on page 13)
APRIL 2012 JICAS WORLD 7
Its been a long and exciting journey
After serving as president of the Japan International Cooperation Agency for more
than eight years, Mrs. Sadako Ogata ofcially retired on March 31, 2012. Previously,
she was an academic, diplomat and, during the1990s, the High Commissioner for the
U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR. In the following interview she looks back at some of the
professional milestones and personal highlights of a distinguished career.
When you took the helm
at JICA near the start of
the new millennium,
what were your views about
the organization and the global
development situation?
I had no idea! When JICAs staff council
approached me about the position, I told
them I have no idea what this is all about.
I said it was very nice that the staff had asked
about me but I could not take a job just based
on popularity.
As president of
And? JICA, field visits
Many things were happening. JICA was to Afghanistan
about to become an independent agency (left), Juba, South
within the government. There were world Sudan (center)
eventsthe aftermath of 9/11 in the United and India
States; the Afghanistan issue; the concept of
human security for millions of vulnerable
people. If I had clearly foreseen all of the
major challenges awaiting me, maybe I would have said no.
I said yes. (With a laugh)
When you took over UNHCR, you were faced with the
immediate crisis of the plight of Kurdish refugees at
the end of the first Gulf war. What was the situation
when you became JICA President?
At UNHCR it was literally a question of life and death for
thousands of people. It was a different situation at JICA, but
nevertheless we had the ongoing problem of Afghanistan. I
was thrown in at the deep end and expected to be
immediately active.
How has JICA evolved during your stewardship?
JICA (which merged with a section of the then Japan Bank
for International Cooperation in 2008) has become much
better organized and action orientated. When I arrived we
were very active in Asia. On the other hand Africa was a big
open space. No Japanese prime minister had even visited the
continent until 2001 when I accompanied Prime Minister
Mori to South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya before my own
appointment to JICA in October 2003. We are very active in
Africa now.
8 JICAS WORLD APRIL 2012
Science and Technology (E-JUST).
Arab Spring. E-JUST will encourage the regions best and
And your last official trip was to be to Africa/the
Middle East, Egypt and Tunisia.
The Middle East has become a very important area for JICA.
Initially there was Asia and other areas such as Latin Amer-
ica. Then we began to be more active in sub-Sahara Africa.
But what is happening in the Middle East now will affect the
whole world and JICA is beginning to get more and more in-
volved. And in the next three years we will be working closely
with the Brookings Institution in Washington on both re-
search and policy issues which will be very important for us.
After the Arab Spring began JICA offered immediate
assistance to Tunisia and Egypt to help them
strengthen the fragile democratic processes. More
than one year later what is the situation from your
perspective?
Tunisia of course was the start. What happens in Egypt will
have a very major impact. I have said from the beginning that
the Arab Spring will follow a very bumpy road, but even as
donors we are already learning a lot of lessons. JICA has
concentrated on helping to educate and train people
students, teachers, IT specialists, plumbers, electricians. We
have collaborated with Egypt for several years to launch a
new kind of university called the Egypt-Japan University of
But?
But what happens if you dont give those same people the
opportunity to actually get a job? Maybe we have not focused
enough in the past on job creation and we know that this
particular frustration was one of the underlying causes of the
As the countrys development agency and link with many
brightest brains not to leave the area and will offer the kind of
education that will suit industrys needs. We are helping to
reshape vocational training centers in some countries to
again emphasize the need to give students the kind of skills
that economies need. The world in general has a lot of lessons
to learn from what is going on there now. And because Japan
has not been heavily involved historically or politically in the
Middle East, that actually gives us some advantages as a
neutral partner agency with regional countries.
JICA is the steward of the Corridor of Peace, a concept
to try to forge closer ties between Israel, Jordan and
the Palestinian territories by encouraging economic
cooperation.
Yes, Japan began the project in 2006. A major component
will be the creation of an agro-industrial complex in the
Jordan Valley to allow farmers to gain export markets for
their fruit and vegetables. Construction has begun and
already other industries such as a steelworks have been
attracted to Jericho (reputedly the worlds oldest city, located
in the Palestinian territories). We have also been active in
training thousands of local farmers and ofcials, building
physical infrastructure such as roads, irrigation schemes,
schools and clinics.
Your career has spanned many decades. Has the
world changed a lot during that period?
Communicationsphysical travel, electronic mediahave
changed the world. We are becoming one big
community-based world. You can no longer do things
totally different to your neighbor simply because you
are bigger or more powerful. We all have to share.
Unless you share the world is a very dangerous place.
How have you personally changed?
I am more impatient. Because of the nature of
responsibility I assumed, it always seemed to get
bigger and bigger, so I always want quick actions and
results. So I become impatient.
After such a long career as a public person
what are you going to do privately?
First, clean my ofce. There are a lot of housekeeping
needs. I have to then organize my own thinking. And then I
will probably write another book (her last book called The
Turbulent Decade described the 1990s and concentrated on
her role as the worlds principal spokesperson for tens of mil-
lions of refugees). But it will be more about Japan this time.
I have to be careful not to be too critical! (Laughs)
What is Japans role in the world?
overseas countries, JICA is at the edge of Japan and at the
edge of the world and this can be a very worrying situation.
Japan has many privileges and JICAs mission has been to
share some of these with the rest of the world. Japan is an is-
land country but we must change more. We have to become
wiser, quicker in doing things. After World War II many peo-
ple, including myself, went abroad to study and we began
opening up to the world. In the wake of Japans earthquake
and tsunami, a project called tomodachi (friendship) began
between the U.S. and Japan. And I suddenly think This is
like post-World War II all over again. We have become more
globalized but not quite enough.
What one particularly poignant incident do you recall
from such a long career?
We were trying at UNHCR to bring so many people back to
their homes in the Balkans. And there was a little boy. He
came along to me and he said Mrs. Ogata, would you take
me home? I still remember that little boy. He must have
been seven or eight. Would you take me home? That was
our job.
Did you get him home?
Eventually. But a little boy trusting you to that extent. Thats
pretty overwhelming.
Final word?
Its been a long and exciting journey.
APRIL 2012 JICAS WORLD 9
THE MIDDLE EAST
Anybody
Understand
Anything?
MORE PRECIOUS THAN OIL
Japanese experts
and local Egyptian
I
officials assess the f oil reserves have fueled the fabu-
results of a recent lous wealth of some Arab states and help turn
water project (left) the worlds daily economy, the very survival of
The old way of the entire Middle East is dependent upon a second
drawing water (right) invaluable resource: water.
And like oil, water reserves are spread unevenly
around the region, are subject to political and even
military intrigue, and shape the well-beingor
povertyof millions of people.
JICA projects across the region are helping to pre-
FORGET BECOMING A DOCTOR BECOME A PLUMBER INSTEAD
F
or am bitious pare n ts w ho
eye their children as aspiring doc-
tors or engineers or for would-be
brides, vocational training is often dis-
missed as undignied and beneath them.
However, with massive unemployment
and pent-up frustrations in many coun-
tries, there is a growing awareness that me-
chanics, plumbers and electricians can
often nd full employment and healthy
salaries.
There is a growing awareness, too,
among vocational centers that they must
work more closely with local industries to
Vocational training develop training courses appropriate to in-
in Aqaba, Jordan (right) dustrial needs.
There are 42 vocational training institutes in Jor-
Matching training
with industrial needs dan and beginning several years ago JICA experts in-
(far right) troduced model curricula more responsive to local
10 JICAS WORLD APRIL 2012
serve or make more efcient use of the dwindling
supplies of the precious liquid in bustling cities, re-
mote villages, for agriculture and domestic use.
In Tunisia, where the recent Arab Spring began, a
series of Japanese yen-loan water supply projects
have already benetted some eight million people, in
Morocco 7.1 million people and in Syria 1.7 million
persons.
More than virtually any other country, Egypt and
its people have been shaped and sustained by one
single natural resource for their very survivalthe
waters of the River Nile.
And JICA has been active for many years in an on-
going series of projects to harness the Niles nite liq-
uid bounty to meet the increasing agricultural, indus-
working for two years with some of the 179 students
needs after holding extensive meetings with admin-
istrators, instructors and, crucially, local business
leaders. By next year, all of Jordans vocational cen-
trial and domestic needs of a population which has
soared from 18 million in 1970 when the Aswan High
Dam was completed to more than 80 million today.
The agency helped to rehabilitate four major reg-
ulators or dams on the 312 km Bahr Yusef canal com-
plex running roughly parallel to the Nile in Middle
Egypt. In the Nile Delta dozens of Japanese experts
helped upgrade major irrigation arteries feeding
local farms and establish local Water Users Organi-
zations (WUO) to help regulate the system.
While that project concentrated on improving the
smallest irrigation canals, known as mesqas, a more
recent project nishing this year concentrated on
strengthening the larger branch level irrigation, but
tackling similar issues such as water shortages in the
system, illegal water use, lack of maintenance, qual-
ity control and strengthening Water Users Organiza-
tions.
As the project was drawing to a close recently,
Japanese experts, their Egyptian counterparts and
the recipientslocal communities, farmers and
their familiesmet to assess the results.
One farmer and WUO member Ali Mohamed
Abdul Gawad said crop yields of wheat, corn, peas,
beetroot and tomatoes from his small plot have in-
creased by 20%. I am very happy.
Chief Japanese advisor Soji Shindo said, We have
achieved all our objectives and gone even further in
helping to nd solutions to recent environmental
problems.
But water is so precious in Egypt even the obvious
advantages of working together to obtain better re-
sults for the community are often not enough. As
the group walked through the elds they noticed il- pares with 350 litres in neighboring Israel and 400
legal holes in the irrigation system for siphoning off
ters will have been upgraded.
In Jordans lone seaport of Aqaba, four junior and
senior volunteers, Saki Hanzawa, Takatoshi Sato,
Ryuhei Yamaguchi and senior Minoru Yamazaki are
in such elds as welding, refrigeration and auto me-
chanics.
Twenty-eight-year-old Saki Hanzawa studied
Arabic and Islamic culture at Tokyo University of
Foreign Studies and her job is particularly crucial in
the new climate in the Middle East.
With her language skills she acts as a job match-
ing and career development advisor: After the Arab
spring we are focusing on making sure that the stu-
dents are being taught the skills local factories want
so they stand a good chance of actually getting jobs
when they graduate from here.
That is vital in an economy where the youth unem-
ployment rate can top 20% according to local ofcials.
water illegally. Every time we
close a hole someone drills an-
other one somewhere else, a local
ofcial yelped. Close it. Open it.
Its a never-ending game.
Jordan does not have the equiv-
alent of the Nile. On a per capita
basis it is the worlds fourth poorest
country in renewable water re-
sources. Other means must be
found to supply its six million
people in the constant race to
meet increasing demand from
dwindling resources.
A US$76.5 million project
launched in the 1990s successfully
rehabilitated and then doubled
the capacity of a system supplying
the capitals water.
Currently, JICA is helping to
train cadres of water experts, build
reservoirs, make more efcient New water
use of agricultural water, and transform the way pipelines across
water is delivered from a direct pumping system Jordan
which is energy costlyto a cheaper gravity delivery.
One directand often overlookedapproach is
to reduce the loss of non-revenue water, a technical
term which covers such things as leakages. Currently,
Jordan loses a staggering 46% of its water supplies
through leakage.
However much progress is made, Jordan will
never be water rich. Currently, Jordanians use
around 18 litres per day, after leakage. That com-
litres in the United States.
Vocational
centers are
aware that they
must work more
closely with
local industries
to develop
training courses
appropriate to
industrial
needs.
APRIL 2012 JICAS WORLD 11
THE MIDDLE EAST
Anybody
Understand
Anything?

A NEW LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Continued from page 7

local associations known as Water Users Organiza-

tions (wuo) to more effectively utilize limited water
supplies.
Power plants built with Japanese expertise and

E
ducationthe lack of learning
opportunities for millions of children or even
the lack of opportunities once young people re-
ceive high school or university diplomaswas one of
the fundamental grievances of the Arab Spring.
Egypt and Japan have launched an innovative
E-JUST will higher education project which intends to tackle part
of the problem.
provide the The ofcially named Egypt-Japan University of
kind of Science and Technology (E-JUST) was ofcially
launched in June 2010 and when fully operational
graduates will offer some 3,250 graduate and postgraduate stu-
Egyptian, dents courses ranging from electronics and commu-
nications engineering, robotics, energy resources
Middle Eastern and environmental engineering to industrial, manu-
and African facturing and computer science.
Walking around the temporary campus re-
industries centlythe permanent campus near the Mediter-
require. ranean city of Alexandria will take several years to
completeUniversity President Ahmed B. Khairy
said his facility was designed to meet many of the
frustrated ambitions not only of Egypts but the en-
tire regions disaffected youth.
Until now, most research was done overseas, he
said. For the rst time this university will provide a
rich research environment to our students. Egypt Coordinator Iwasaki Ak-
suffers a severe brain drain. But this university will ihiro calls it the biggest
encourage our best and brightest to stay at home or and most comprehensive
return from abroad. program of its kind un-
E-JUST will provide the kind of graduates Egypt- dertaken by JICA.
ian, Middle Eastern and African industries require, In addition to address-
he said, by developing new models of work and
doing research in such cutting-edge technologies as
ing some of the demands
voiced by Arab Spring
nano science and nano mechanicstechnologies protestors in the last year,
which will benet the poor and not the rich. ofcials said they hope
JICA is working closely with Egyptian counter- to establish E-JUST as
parts to establish the university, providing training an important regional
for engineer and educational instructors and opera- university and within 10
tional staff, developing educational programs and co- years as one of the worlds
ordinating cooperation with 12 Japanese universities. top 500 centers of higher
According to Dr. Khairy, E-JUST was developed learningaiming to re-
along the lines of best Japanese practice. There is a vive Egypts ancient ac-
joint Egyptian-Japanese administrative committee, ademic excellence.
resident Japanese professors among the teaching Alexandria, for instance,
staff and permanent JICA ofcials attached to the was once the site of the
project. worlds greatest library
The university will also act as a showcase for and of the Pharos light-
Japanese culture, values, language and technology in house, one of the Seven
the Middle East region and Africa. Wonders of the Ancient
Because of this full-time partnership, JICA Project World.
nancial backing provide countries such as Syria
and Jordan with much of their power needs. Japan-
ese funds and experts helped establish the largest
wind farm in Africa at Zafarana on Egypts Red Sea
coast with some 500 massive turbines. Similar fu-
ture projects are under review.
The Mediterranean seaport of Alexandria is one
of the most romantic and historic of the worlds an-
cient wonders, once boasting the greatest library
known to man and a queen, Cleopatra, who became
a modern Hollywood legend. To help revive the eco-
nomic fortunes of Alexandria and the surrounding
Nile Delta, JICA supported the construction of a
new airport and the training of staff at the nearby
city of Borg el Arab.
A graceful bridge built with Japanese assistance
arches over the Suez Canal linking mainland Egypt
with its Sinai region. Mighty aircraft carriers and
majestic liners such as the QueenElizabeth glide
below through the desert.
Egypts
JICA has provided funds to upgrade parts of an
new breed
of students envisaged grand road network which eventually will
at E-JUST link the Moroccan Atlantic port of Agadir with
university Cairo, via Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, as well as rural
roads in Morocco. In Cairo itself a yen loan is help-
ing in the construction of the citys Metro Line No. 4,
which will link the downtown to Gizasite of one of
the most exciting projects in the entire Middle East.
There, JICA has provided a US$450 million loan

HOSPITALS IN THE MIDDLE EAST: CHAN GING WITH THE TIMES
The problem is not a disease such as malaria or
tuberculosis, or a mental or physical disability but
something patients catch once they enter hospital
infectious disease caused principally by uncleanliness,
even the simple task of not washing hands properly.
Hospitals across the world, even in highly developed
countries, suffer from the problem, but it is particularly
acute in developing countries which often have neither
the nancial nor personnel resources, nor in many
cases even the basic knowledge, to tackle the crisis.
Eighteen medical staff from Iraq, Jordan, the Pales-
tine Authority, Sudan, Syria and Egypt recently
attended a three-week workshop at Fayoum University
Hospitals near Cairo to explore the problem, its
origins, prevention and management of infectious
outbreaks and other successful infection controls.
The workshop was a so-called third-country program
A childrens whereby JICA underwrites the cost, provides equipment
a similar cultural background and similar problems.
Other countries such as Syria and Jordan have
held similar, regular third-country seminars, particular
for Iraqis following the disruption of war there, Pales-
tinians and trainees from as far away as Afghanistan.
The workshops are designed not only as a series of
lectures, teacher to student, but as a collaborative
give-and-take which can benet everyone and eventually
could lead to greater regional cooperation.
At the Fayoum workshop two Japanese experts in-
cluding Dr. Namiko Yoshihara, an expert in infectious
diseases, tuberculosis and AIDS, were guest lecturers.
JICA has worked closely with the university since
2008 and has helped sponsor previous programs on
womens health care in Yemen, clinical immunology
for infectious diseases for Nile Basin countries and a
total quality management course for health care fa-
cilities in Africa.
to help build the ofcially titled Grand Egyptian
Museum (see page 6). When it opens its doors in
2015 some eight million tourists annually are ex-
pected to visit what will reputedly be the worlds
largest archaeological museum housing some
100,000 of its most precious treasures, including
5,000 items from the tomb of the Pharaoh Tu-
tankhamun. The new museum will stand in the vir-
Hospitals tual shadow of the Giza Pyramids, including that of
Khufu (Cheops), one of the Seven Wonders of the
across the Ancient World.
world, even JICA views such work as not only preserving a
countrys cultural heritage but also promoting po-
in highly tentially lucrative tourism industries. Jordan and
developed the neighboring Palestinian territories, natural re-
source deprived regions, nevertheless boast won-
countries, derful attractions such as the Dead Sea, Petra (The
suffer from rose red city half as old as time), and Jericho, reput-
edly the worlds oldest city. Japanese experts are pro-
the problem. moting tourism in Jericho and have helped establish
Jordans rst museum system in Amman, Salt, the

J
hospital in Cairo ordanian doctor Lewa al Islam Hazymh
says it is probably the main killer in his countrys
hospitals.
Syrian doctor Maan Shamma said the problem is
consuming billions of Syrian pounds, maybe the ma-
jority of the medical budget and endangering the
lives of countless people.
when necessary and instructors and experts, but other
countries or institutions, in this case Fayoum University,
organize the event.
The system, increasingly used by JICA worldwide,
has many advantages. Personnel from countries where
such expertise is not readily available can receiving
training abroad, often in a neighboring country with
Courses like this will help us reduce hospital costs,
make medical care better and save many lives in our
countries, said Dr. Shamma.
The Middle East is changing. Our entire lifestyles
are changing, said Dr. Hazymh from Jordan. We in
the medical profession, in the hospitals, must move
with the times and change with them.
crusader town of Kerak and the Dead Sea region.
Following the end of the conict in Iraq, Japan in
2003 pledged a total of US$5 billion for its recon-
struction, second only to the United States. Nearly
one-third of that went for immediate emergency as-
sistance such as medical equipment, ambulances
Continued on page 14

12 JICAS WORLD APRIL 2012 APRIL 2012 JICAS WORLD 13

THE MIDDLE EAST
Anybody
Understand
Anything?

Continued from page 13

and police cars but longer-term reconstruction is now underway to

LOVEYOURSONBUT TREAT HIM LIKE A CAT OR DOG

JICA WORLD
train personnel in key elds, rehabilitate the vital oil industry, revital-
ize the agricultural sector and bolster other basic industries such as
water supply.

VOLATILE REGION
The Middle East is one of the most volatile regions

s
on earth. In one unusual project JICA is seeking not only to improve the
lives of poor farmers but also to increase cooperation in the Jordan Val-
ley between hostile neighbors Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians.
The project was ofcially launched by the Japanese government in
2006 and is known as the Corridor of Peace and Prosperity (see page 4).
The jewel in the crown is an agro-industrial park on the outskirts of re-
putedly the worlds oldest city, Jericho, and when it begins operations
later this year it will process and can the rich bounty of fruits and veg-
etables grown in the surrounding atlands for export.
Local communities will benet not only via new agro industries but
by other businesses, such as a steel plant, which are already being at-
tracted to the region.
A series of related programs are intended to boost the overall impact of
the project. They include building access infrastructure, training thou-
sands of local farmers and ofcials, improving farming techniques and ir- Publisher:
rigation systems, constructing schools and clinics, encouraging the ex- Noriko Suzuki
change of ideas and expertise between the three groups and assisting Office of Media and
Helping vulnerable groups across the Middle
particularly vulnerable groups such as women and children. Public Relations
East including the physically disabled, mentally
Eliminating inequality, poverty and unequal opportunity is a key ob- impaired and pregnant women and children Editor:
jective of other JICA projects. Palestinian mothers and their children are Raymond Wilkinson
vulnerable because of the many Israeli military checkpoints and barriers Art Director:

throughout the territories and JICA is training nurses and doctors and
has helped develop a handbook to give them easier access to assistance.
JICA experts and volunteers work in several countries catering di-
rectly to mentally or physically disabled people who cannot receive ade-
quate care from their families or communities (see opposite).
There are some 1.4 million long-time Palestinian refugees living in of-
cial camps (as well as recent inuxes of Iraqis from the war there) who
need assistance and JICA has helped to provide teachers and launched
small micro-nance projects in places such as the Baqa refugee camp
near Amman.
The agency also supports regional vocational training centers teach-
ing such skills as welding, plumbing and auto mechanics and is encour-
aging the management to collaborate more closely with business and
industry on the type of graduates they need, particularly in areas where
unemployment rates reach 25%.
At the other extreme of the education ladder, the Egypt-Japan Uni-
versity of Science and Technology (E-JUST) was launched in 2010. The
joint effort is meant to be a different center of higher learning than
other regional universities.
Egypt suffers a severe brain drain, says University President
Ahmed B. Khairy. This university will encourage our best and bright-
est to stay at home or return from abroad by offering innovative
courses and research opportunities in such elds as nano science.
Eventually, he said, he hoped to establish E-JUST as one of the 500
best universities in the world, offering opportunities not only to Egypt-
ian but also to Middle Eastern and African students.
That is a goal worthy of the lofty ideals of the Arab Spring.
Recently retired JICA President Mrs. Sadako Ogata attended the
formal inauguration of the university but in a recent interview she also
warned of continuing perils ahead. The Arab Spring was potentially a
massive event, she said. But we have to be very careful and we must be
realistic. Things can move up and things can go down and right now
things are touch and go. But we have to remain optimistic.
W
hen Nada Alfy Thabet gave birth
to a son in 1980 she faced a parents worst
nightmare. Maged was mentally retarded.
Take him home, love him, but treat him like a cat or
dog, doctors repeatedly told the Egyptian mother.
A scream which had been building inside her
ever since the birth grew louder, she said. Some-
thing must be done.
Nada Alfy Thabets husband, pharmacist Mourad
Loutfy Sabet, estimates 10% of Egypts population suf-
fers from some type of physical or mental impairment,
a pattern repeated in many areas of the Middle East.
Few countries have the resources to adequately
help such groups but in 2000 Nada Alfy Thabet
founded the Village of Hope to help both her son
and other similarly disabled.
Today, in the city of Borg El Arab on the outskirts
of Alexandria, the village supports 45 patients aged
between 15 and 30 with physical rehabilitation and
learning skills in such areas as carpet weaving, hand-
icrafts and baking. We are preparing them to re-enter
society, says Loutfy Sabet who is the centers treasurer.
Parents are taught how to inter-react and handle
their children.
JICA has been working with the Village of Hope
since 2005 and similar institutions in other Middle
Eastern countries as part of the organizations overall
policy of helping particularly vulnerable groups such
as the disabled or expectant mothers and their chil-
dren and smoothing inequalities in society, which
was a major cause of the Arab Spring uprising.
These vulnerable groups are often overlooked by
society at large or receive inadequate assistance from
underfunded and overstretched health services.
Two Japanese volunteers, 38-year-old Yumi Ito
and 31-year-old occupational therapist Ayumi Mizui,
are helping patients at the Village of Hope during a
two-year stint as volunteers (JOCV).
At the Mohamed Rachid Foundation in nearby
Alexandria, another volunteer, Kanae Makita, a ce-
ramics expert who wanted to become more involved
in the world, is teaching both disabled children and
disabled cleaners and manual workers at the foun-
dation the skills of ceramics, pottery and carpet mak-
ingskills which they will be able to use to eventually
support themselves.
And in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, volunteer Ai
Takahashi is also introducing both unskilled and deaf
and disabled Egyptians to turn plant refuse such as
rice straw and banana stalks into eye-catching tradi-
tional paper products ranging from earrings to lamp
shades to photo albums at the El Nafeza nonovern-
mental organization, which are popular with foreign
tourists.
JORDANIAN ACTIVITIES
Th e r e i s a s i m i l a r p i c t u r e i n Jo r d a n.
Virtually in the shadow of the towering old cru-
sader castle at Karak, two young Japanese volunteers,
Ren Kamioka, a special education teacher, and Shingo
Aisaka, an occupational therapist, help some of the
around 120 persons with intellectual disabilities here
aged 14 to 60. The rehabilitation center has estab-
lished what ofcials call a center unique in the Arab
world where a small group of patients have set up
home and totally look after themselves. Others have
been encouraged to undertake physical activities and Vincent Winter
have even entered the annual Dead Sea Marathon. Associates
On a recent day, Tokiko Sato, JICAs senior advisor JICAS WORLD
on population, reproductive health and community is published by
health, and Jordanian doctor Khawla Kawwa were JICA
Nibancho Center Bldg
visiting nearby villages where health educators were 5-25, Niban-cho
rst recruited in 2008 to explain and promote family Chiyoda-ku
planning and other health issues. Tokyo 102-8012 JAPAN
Jordan is a conservative country, its birthrate is TELEPHONE :
among the worlds highest and the population could +81-3-5226-6660-3
double by 2030. But according to Tokiko Sato and FAX : +81-3-5226-6396
Dr. Kawwa, the young health educators, on home INTERNET :
visits and at a series of village health centers they http://www.jica.go.jp
have done such a good job that the birthrate in their Comments: jicagap-
pilot areas has fallen well below the national average. opinion@jica.go.jp
Tokiko Sato has worked in the Middle East region Cover : The famed sphinx
since the 1990s and agrees with Arab Spring protes- ponder the future of the
tors that a major regional problem, in health as in Middle East
other elds, is widespread disparitybetween rural
areas and townsin the towns themselves. It is an
everyday reality.
Maternal and child health is a major concern in
the neighboring Palestinian territories and Palestin- The Japan
ian refugee camps which dot the entire region. International
Because of the militarized nature of the territories Cooperation Agency
with many physical barriers the health of prospective (JICA) is the worlds
mothers and their young offspring are particularly largest bilateral
fragile. In cooperation with local and international development organ-
organizations JICA has helped prepare and distribute ization, operating in
a useful handbook which patients, doctors and nurses some 150 countries to
use to chart their health, and three Japanese experts help some of the
are currently training nurses and doctors to use both globes most
advanced technologies and diagnoses. vulnerable people.

14 JICAS WORLD APRIL 2012 APRIL 2012 JICAS WORLD 15