Friends in the east: 3 NGOs get Rs26.9m grant from Japan

ISLAMABAD:

The government of Japan has provided grants of almost Rs26.9 million ($254,889) to three Pakistani NGOs for the implementation of social development projects in disadvantaged communities.

The agreements for the three projects were signed on Thursday at the Japanese ambassador’s residence by Ambassador Hiroshi Inomata and the heads of the three NGOs --- Sangtani Women Rural Development Organization, Saint Raphael’s Hospital, and Learning Awareness and Motivation Programme (LAMP).

Sangtani Women Rural Development Organisation will utilise the grant to install nine water filtration plants in UC Fatehpur in Rajanpur tehsil, which suffers from high prevalence of waterborne diseases due to the unavailability of safe drinking water. The project would improve access to safe drinking water for 3,360 residents and will contribute in the prevention of waterborne diseases in the target area, the NGO has said.

The $83,960 grant awarded to St Raphael’s Hospital, Faisalabad – a maternity hospital and Midwifery Training School – will help improve medical services at the hospital. In 2012, Japan had extended financial support worth $123,000 to the hospital for the construction of a two-storey Outpatient Department (OPD). This year’s grant will be used to add equipment including X-ray and ultrasound machines.

The LAMP, which the government of Japan has been supporting since 1996, has received over $1.16 million till now for various school construction and safe drinking water projects. The new grant of $90,712 will be used for the expansion of a co-ed primary school in Khyber Agency. The new building would benefit over 300 students.

Ambassador Inomata stressed the importance of improving access to health, education and water facilities, particularly in rural areas. He expressed hope that these projects would contribute to Pakistan’s goal of eliminating rural and urban disparities. The Japanese government has provided $1.7 million in total to Pakistani NGOs during the last Japanese fiscal year (April 2014 – March 2015).

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2015.