Japan Held a Workshop to Discuss Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects in Cotabato City

Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC) - Press Release No.05 - 2020

The Embassy of Japan in the Philippines held a workshop to discuss Japanese Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects, known as GGP, in Cotabato City, Mindanao, on January 29, 2020.   The workshop was attended by Consul General Yoshiaki Miwa from the Consulate-General of Japan in Davao; Yosuke Tamabayashi, First Secretary, and Junichi Hirano, Third Secretary from the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines; and Yuriko Higuchi, Economic Cooperation Researcher from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. It was attended in total by 30 organizations or approximately 70 representatives from local government units, NGOs, and ministries from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao including the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE); Ministry of Health (MOH), and Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR).
 
Consul General Miwa highlighted that peace and development in Mindanao is one of Japan’s top priority areas for assistance to the Philippines. He also added that from 2006, GGP implemented 101 projects amounting to nearly 10 million USD.
 
The workshop provided an overview of GGP, a guide on GGP proposal writing, and GGP implementation procedures. In addition, former proponents—Mindanao Children’s Library (MCL), and the Local Government of Sultan Mastura—presented their completed projects, and discussed the challenges and lessons learned from its implementation. Lastly, the participants conducted a brainstorming session to formulate potential GGP projects.  
 
Throughout the workshop, many questions concerning applications and implementation were raised by participants as well as words of gratitude for community focused grassroots support. The workshop concluded with a high hope that the forum of information sharing will lead to the formulation of more projects in the future.