NAY PYI TAW, Myanmar – The Government of Japan and UNFPA have signed an agreement to empower and protect women and girls in the conflict-affected states Kachin, Rakhine and Shan. This important partnership that builds on an agreement that was signed in 2018. The agreement was signed on 26 February 2019, and is part of an initiative between Japan and several United Nations agencies in Myanmar.

The Japan-UNFPA agreement was signed by His Excellency Mr. Ichiro Maruyama, Ambassador of Japan to Myanmar and Mr. Ramanathan Balakrishnan, Country Representative for UNFPA. The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Union Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement and Union Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“I thank the Government and people of Japan for their continued support to women and girls in Rakhine as well as Kachin and Shan States. UNFPA appreciates the continued confidence of Japan,” said Ramanathan Balakrishnan, Country Representative for UNFPA.

The support from Japan, constituting more than US$ 1.7 million, will contribute to UNFPA’s work to empower and protect women in Myanmar, ensuring they can access health services and can contribute to and benefit from inclusive growth and development.

The project, called “The project for responding to the humanitarian situation in Rakhine State, Kachin State and northern Part of Shan State”, will be implemented over the next twelve months, with work scheduled to begin in March 2019. Under the previous agreement signed between UNFPA and Japan in February 2018, UNFPA has been able to deliver

• Dignity kits containing female hygiene items to 3,000 of the most vulnerable women and girls in Rakhine.
• Sexual and reproductive health services supporting safe birth, and pregnancy by choice, not chance, to over 11,000 women in Rakhine.