The Japanese government will grant Ukraine $300,000 to repair schools and hospitals through its Kusanone human rights project.
The grant, which was given to four Ukrainian nonprofits and local communities on Feb. 8, will cover educational and healthcare projects in three of the country’s oblasts – Rivne, Sumy, and Chernihiv – as well as the city of Kharkiv.
The money will cover the modernization of a school in Chernihiv Oblast. The modernization will involve installing 100 windows, 15 doors, making the premises habitable in winter. Money will also be spent on purchasing equipment for hospitals in Rivne and Sumy oblasts, and an overhaul of Kharkiv’s Hospis palliative care center.
“Japan gives money to fund fast solutions that significantly change people’s lives,” said Japanese Ambassador to Ukraine Shigeki Sumi, describing the aim of providing the funds.
The $300,000 grant is just the first stage of Japan’s Kusanone program, which funds human rights initiatives by Ukrainian nonprofit organizations or local communities. Other regional NGOs will be selected to receive funding during the second stage, in March.
Volodymyr Kosenko, the head of nonprofit Shid-Zahid Foundation based in Kharkiv, about 500 kilometers easternwards from Kyiv, is in charge of overseeing the overhaul of the Hospis palliative care center. He can’t believe that Japan, so far away geographically, is helping his country so much.
“I’m sure the lives of our patient will improve significantly,” Kosenko said, speaking to Sumi on Feb. 8. “We ought to look after our seniors, especially those at death’s door.”
Three other grantees, in turn, thanked Sumi for helping hospitals; and children thanked him for the mending of their school.
Typically, Japan chooses 10-15 projects annually from all over Ukraine, funds them, and implements them by the end of a year. The Kusanone project has been in action for 15 years; since it started, Japan has funded 120 nonprofit projects, giving them $8.8 million in total.
The reason Japan gives money is to “deepen its partnership with Ukraine, while protecting human rights – the priory direction of Japanese foreign policy,” Sumi said. The money mostly goes to healthcare, education, social welfare, culture and sport.
In 2017, there were 400 applications, and ambassador Sumi expects more in 2018.
“We are helping ensure basic human rights like health and education – the spheres that suffer most from budget shortfalls in Ukraine, especially now, when the country is forced to live through the times of military conflict,” he said.
“We help Ukraine, because it is the biggest country in Europe – with 40-million population – and if it can’t retain its stability, the whole of Europe may suffer.”
According to Sumi, Russia’s war on Ukraine is damaging the human rights situation in Ukraine, especially in the regions.
In total, taking into account other grants from the Japanese government, Japan has given Ukraine more than $3 billion over 25 years of cooperation, according to Ukraine’s Information Ministry.
