Address: 2-11-5 Sakurashinmachi, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, 154-0015 Japan
Tel: +81-(0)3-5451-5400
Fax: +81-(0)3-5451-5401
Email: meet@peace-winds.org
URL: www.peace-winds.org

Organization Profile

Peace Winds Japan (PWJ), established in 1996, is a Japanese non-governmental organization dedicated to provide assistance to individuals threatened by armed conflict and poverty, especially to those in areas where assistance is not readily available due to security, political, and/or economic circumstances. Our activities have neither political nor religious interest, and currently cover Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. While our primary focus is on emergency humanitarian assistance, we also work on reconstruction and development projects.

Vision To build a world where each and every person may fully realize his/her potential without the fear of armed conflict and poverty.

Mission

1. To provide humanitarian relief in preventing and resolving problems which determine the need for assistance (such as conflict, etc.)
2. To work for reconstruction and development in order to empower people and communities, establishing an independent and sustainable livelihood for those who are threatened by poverty,.
3. To strive for change in the social structures which create poverty and conflict, and for the improvement of the present assistance system.

Activities (see following sections for activities described by country/region)

• Emergency Assistance: distribution of food and non-food items, shelter, and medical treatment to internally displaced persons, refugees and other people affected by natural disaster and armed conflict.
• Reconstruction & Development Assistance: fields of activity include education, health and sanitation, improvement of women’s lives, income generation, and construction.
• Activities in Japan: Through research, publications and seminars, PWJ works to raise the awareness and understanding of international issues and the need for assistance in Japan. In addition, PWJ generates funds through fund raising campaigns, membership fees, and sales of fair trade products.

Kurdish Autonomous Zone, Northern Iraq (Offices in Dohuk, Sulaimaniyah)
Peace Winds Japan (PWJ) has been assisting the people of Northern Iraq since its establishment in 1996. Our projects provide services in the fields of health care, water and sanitation, social care, and construction. While the sporadic civil war continues, PWJ is the one of the very few NGOs responding to the great needs of assistance in the area. (Cooperating organizations/governments. (hereafter within []): UNOHCI, UNICEF, UNHCR, UNESCO, WFP, international NGOs, Japanese government and local authorities.)

Mongolia (Ulanbaartar)
Since 1997, PWJ has been working in two major fields, the protection and education of street children and poverty prevention. Also in 2000 and 2001, in response to the severe cold wave (Zud), PWJ assisted many herdsman and their families who were in danger of losing their livestock. [International and local NGOs, Japanese/local government.]

Sierra Leone (Freetown, Bo)
Since 2001, PWJ is managing resettlement camps for the internally displaced persons returning to Sierra Leone, providing medical care and education, and constructing wells. [UNHCR]

Indonesia (Sorong, Jakarta)
Since 1997, PWJ has responded to natural disasters and also worked on community development in impoverished villages in Irian Jaya. Also, PWJ is supporting capacity building with local NGOs, such as diffusing children's human rights, developing villages teaching the way of establishing a cow bank. [local NGOs]

East Timor (Dili)
In 1999, in response to the social disorder following the 1998 referendum concerning independence from Indonesia, PWJ provided emergency medical assistance and food/non-food items for internally displaced persons. Recent projects have shifted to the reconstruction of shelters for those whose houses were destroyed, and income generation in order to support the self-reliance of the East Timorese. [UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, the Japanese government, USAID, AUSAID, international/local NGOs]

India
In response to the earthquake that struck Western India in 2001, PWJ distributed 1,100 tents within a week after the earthquake. For the first time, PWJ also deployed its “balloon-shelter,�Ea large-scale mobile tent that can be inflated in 30 minutes and can shelter 150 people. Also PWJ provided clean water and, in the reconstruction stage, assisted in the repairing of homes and in the training of engineers. [local NGOs]

Kosovo (Pec/Peja)
In 1999, PWJ provided shelter assistance to returnees by transporting and constructing 300 prefabricated houses that were used after the Kobe earthquake in Japan. PWJ closed its Kosovo office in 2000. [UNHCR, international NGOs, Japanese government]

North Korea
PWJ provided food assistance to North Korea in 1998. [North Korean government]

Yunnan Province, Tibet Autonomous Region, China
Since 1999, PWJ has been providing educational assistance to Tibetan students in China. This project is funded through the fair trade of mushrooms grown in the region. [PWJ works independently]

Afghanistan(Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif, Sar-e Pul), Pakistan(Islamabad)
Since 2001,PWJ has been supporting internally displaced persons in Sar-e Pul camp in Northern part of Afghanistan, by dispatching shelter (about 6,000 tents) and food (rice, wheat), and working on the reconstruction of Afghanistan. [UNICEF, WFP, international NGOs, local NGOs, Japan Platform, and Japanese government]

Work Sites in the world: