We Are Tomodachi Winter 2018

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32Japan Emergency NGO (JEN) is a Japan-based international nongovernmental organization (NGO)established in 1994, whose first mission was to provide emergency humanitarian assistance in Yugoslavia during the civil war. JEN has since worked in areas of conflict and disaster including Afghanistan, Iraq, and South Sudan. Responding to the needs in these areas, JEN dispatches personnel, distributes food, water and supplies, manages sanitation, promotes good hygiene, and provides psychosocial care. JEN also provides educational opportunities and vocational training.Asuka Kuroki first volunteered with international NGOs on poverty issues when she was in high school. She recounts, “After graduating from university, I knew I wanted to work for an NGO in the future, but I thought I first needed to acquire professional experience and expertise, so I got a job in a private company.” She joined JEN in 2014 and is currently engaged in assistance work in Jordan, Iraq, and other countries as JEN’s secretary general. Kuroki stays on the move managing the organization. She describes JEN's activities as “supporting the power to live.” Realizing that refugees have been forced into their life of hardships, JEN seeks to restore the refugees’ dignity and help them move forward once again, rather than just providing food and material assistance.JEN places value in people’s own capabilities and will, and reflects this belief in its work by having the refugees participate in the assistance projects. JEN focuses on project management, while encouraging the refugees to proactively engage in the projects. One such activity is JEN’s humanitarian assistance at the Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan. This camp, located in the desert, shelters 80,000 people that have fled the conflict in Syria. The camp is divided into 12 districts. JEN manages the water supply and sanitation for three of these districts. Its operations include the use of water supply vehicles. JEN organized a water sanitation management committee by recruiting volunteers from the refugees. The committee created a system for the camp residents to manage the camp’s sanitation facilities―the toilets, showers, and Asuka Kuroki Secretary General of JEN, a nonprofit organization. After graduating from university and working for a private company, joined a private nonprofit think tank and consulting firm. After taking maternity leave, worked for two years as an economic cooperation specialist in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Joined JEN in April 2014 and took charge of the organization’s relief efforts for Syrian refugees in Jordan and for support programs in Iraq. Served as Manager of the Global Program Department before starting her current position in April 2016.Series: Japanese Individuals Contributing WorldwideSupporting Refugees’ Self-Reliance