Press Releases

The Vietnamese government has unfolded its 5 Million Hectare Reforestation Programme as a priority initiative to rehabilitate the decline in forest coverage due to long war and a rapid population increase. To address the large number of victims each year who suffer from violent rainstorms and flooding, the Vietnamese government is also strengthening its disaster program. Given this background, reforestation is an urgent task for the one hundred thousand hectares of coastal reserve forestland related to disasters. To assist with this undertaking, JICA provided grant aid under the Project for Afforestation on the Coastal Sandy Area in Southern Central Viet Nam, resulting 3,600 hectares being reforested through April 2005.

Now, 892 hectares of coastal reserve forest land will be reforested under the Project for Afforestation on the Coastal Sandy Area in Southern Central Viet Nam (Phase II), funded with 487 million yen in grant aid, to be carried out in areas where tree planting is technically more difficult. Quang Nam and Quang Ngai, provinces that are project targets located in the South Central Coast region of Vietnam, are sandy and filled with many dunes. Strong winds and sand from typhoons and monsoons cause serious harm to agriculture and rural residents; that should be alleviated by the reforestation of this project, which is expected to provide protection to an area some six thousand hectares in scope.

A survey has already been carried out on a forestry sector loan for expanding the coverage of the target coastal forest reserve which is technically feasible for Vietnam. By coordinating the assistance, reforestation of the land and improvements to the lives of people in the disaster-prone central coastal region can be accomplished. [2]

Between 2000 and 2007, the population of Mongolia’s capital Ulan Bator grew 30 percent due to an influx of people from rural areas that accompanied the transition to a market economy. In addition to this, the school enrollment age for the primary schools had been lowered from eight to six, resulting in a sudden increase in the number of schoolchildren. The construction of educational facilities, however, has lagged greatly. The inadequate number of schools means children must commute long distances or lodge away from home, but even so, classes may exceed 50 pupils or schools may be forced to schedule three shifts, where students attend either morning, afternoon or evening school. The circumstance for education has thus become critical.

The Mongolian government has made education a priority in its domestic development strategy, and markedly increased its educational budget beginning in 2007, though still inadequate.

To address these circumstances JICA will provide grant aid in the amount of 3.262 billion yen for the Project for Improvement of Primary Education Facilities (Phase IV). Under this phase, the assistance for primary education improvements carried out in the urban area three times before will be continued with new or expanded construction for 12 primary and secondary schools in Ulan Bator as well as the procurement of the required facilities and materials.

JICA has provided assistance to improve In-service training programs under the Technical Cooperation Project for Strengthening the Planning Capacity for In-service Teacher Training from 2003 to 2006 as well as to develop manuals for teachers to encourage children to develop their thinking without resorting to mere rote under the Technical Cooperation Project for Improving Teaching Methods for Children Development (Phase II) from 2006 to 2009. JICA will continue to support to enhance the quality of education in Mongolia, through both tangible and intangible methods in a multi-faceted approach. [3]