JICA schemes

♦ Grant Aid

♦ Loan

♦ Technical Cooperation

Projects

♦ Training Programmes

♦ Development Studies

♦ Emergency Disaster Relief

♦ Follow-up Cooperation

JICA members in Bhutan

as of August 2010

♦ JICA office staff: 16

(7 internationals; 9 nation-als)

♦ Experts: 6

♦ Senior Volunteers: 16

♦ JOCVs: 38

JICA target areas in

Bhutan

♦ Agriculture and rural development

♦ Infrastructure development

♦ Local governance

♦ Social services develop-ment (health, education and IT)

September - October, 2010 Vol. 10-05

A team of 13 in-service teachers from primary, secondary and high schools, 2 persons from the Media

and 2 JICA officials from Japan visited Bhutan from 2 August ~ 10 August 2010 as a part of Develop-

ment Education study tour.

The motive/purpose is to understand the education system in Bhutan and the GNH concept used in

the schools of Bhutan and share information about the current situation of JICA’s activities in Bhutan

with their students; colleagues etc, and additionally through this program promote the understanding

and participation in International cooperation by the Japanese people in developing countries.

During their ten days stay in the country they visited Changangkha Middle Secondary School where

they exchanged cultural programs and also inspected Mr. Shimpei Aota’s (PE Instructor at the School)

Physical Education class. They met with the Director General and the officers of Ministry of Education

where they understood GNH as a kind of medium to set the balance between cultural identity and

national development. Ms. Kyoko Murata, an English teacher said that “This dual policy of these values

solves something Japanese culture has lost for a long years. I felt like I could get so many hints to face

Japanese young generation from this lecture. In addition to that, I also could get the similarities between

Bhutan and Japan. That is the consideration of children as a nation’s gift”. They also visited JICA Vol-

unteers user agencies like, Khuruthang Institute of Electrical Engineering, Gaselo Lower Secondary

School, Agricultural Machinery Center in Paro etc. and saw the activities of Japanese Volunteers and

Experts in Bhutan. They also had one night homestay program at Phobjikha.

For the final report they met with the officials of Ministry of Education and shared information and their

experience of the ten days stay in Bhutan and asked few questions regarding the education system

here in Bhutan. Finally after the final report with the Director General and other officials they met with

the Hon’ble Minister, Lyonpo Thakur S. Powdyel.

Development Education study tour in light of GNH in Bhutan

JICA Bhutan Newsletter is a monthly newsletter published by the JICA Bhutan Office and updated electronically on the JICA Bhutan website. It serves to better link all JICA Bhutan partners by offering briefs and current news on different sectors of JICA and the RGoB. It is for information purposes only and is not an official document. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of JICA. To join our e-mail based subscription, please contact at <jicabt@jica.org.bt>. Your comments and feedback are welcome.

For more information

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)P.O. Box 217, Doy-bum Lam, Above Memorial Chorten,

Thimphu, BhutanTel: (975) 2-322030, 323218, 328074, 324571,324463

Fax: (975) 2-323089E-mail: <jicabt@jica.org.bt>

Website: <http://www.jica.go.jp/bhutan/index.html>

Newsletter Team

Emi Doyle, Project Formulation AdvisorKinley Dorji, Senior Programme Officer

Zangpo, Technical Officer (General Affairs)Tshering Palden, Program Officer

Local Governance and Decentralization project (phase III) to be continued

News in Brief

♦ The 5th Japan-Bhutan Consultation Meeting was held on 12th August, 2010 at the Embassy of Japan in New Delhi. The Japanese delegation was led by Mr. Keizo Takewaka, Minister, Embassy of Japan in New Delhi and the Bhutanese delegation was led by Mr. Thinley Penjor, Director, Department of Bilateral Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Takewaka stated the desire to have a candid exchange of views at the meeting with the objective of utilizing Japan’s economic assistance to Bhutan effectively and efficiently in order to help the smooth progress of the 10th Five Year Plan.

During the Meeting, the two sides discussed : 1. Japan’s Assistance Policy and Priority Areas2. Broad overview on the progress of the 10th Five Year Plan3. Update on the Resource Position of the 10th Five Year Plan4. Bilateral Development Assistance Need Survey 2010-2011

Both sides shared the view that the 6th Annual Consultation Meeting will be held in August 2011 in Thimphu hosted by the Bhuta-nese side.

♦ The Technical Cooperation project “Improvement of Efficiency of Rural Power Supply” which commenced in March 2008 will end in 2011. The final evaluation of the project was carried out by a three member team who visited Bhutan from July 25 to Aug 10 during which they held extensive discussions with the stakeholders and also visited the project sites.

♦ Two long term JOCV volunteer’s completed their two years terms and left for Japan1) Mr. Hitoshi Suzuki , JOCV, IT Instructor in Chhukha Higher Secondary School, MoE2) Mr. Masakazu Fujimoto, JOCV, IT Instructor in Department of School Education, MoE

♦ One short term and one long term Senior Volunteer’s oompleted their terms and left for Japan: 1) Mr. Norio Onjo, SV (long term), Road Management Advisor working for Department of Roads, MoWHS2) Mr. Satoshi Seike, SV (short term) Food Processing working for Drak-Tsho Vocational training Centre for Special Youth

The project formulation mission for the Local Governance and De-centralization Project (LGDP) Phase III was in Bhutan led by Team Leader Mr. Masanobu Kiyoka with Team Members Mr. Yoichiro Kimata and Mr. Katsuhiko Masaki.

During their mission in Bhutan the team met with officials from the Gross National Happiness Commission, Department of Local Governance, Royal Institute of Management, Royal Civil Service Commission, United Nations Development Programme and Liaison Office of Denmark in Bhutan. The team also visited Tsirang Dzong-khag, met with the Dzongkhag Sector Heads and observed a training on Planning and Prioritization for the Gewog Tshogde members by the Gewog Administrative Officers in Gosaling Gewog.

The Minutes of Meeting (MM) for the Local Governance and De-centralization Project (LGDP) Phase III was signed between JICA and Department of Local Governance, Ministry of Home and Cul-tural Affairs on 29th September 2010 at Namgay Heritage, Thimphu Bhutan. The signing of the MM was attended by senior officials from

the Gross National Happiness Commission, Department of Local Governance and JICA Bhutan Office.

The new Phase of the Project will be implemented by the Department of Local Governance for a period of three years beginning Febru-ary 2011.