1. On February 22, 2018, Mr. Tateshi HIGUCHI, Ambassador of Japan to Myanmar, and representatives of five (5) international organizations signed the Exchange of Notes for grant assistance projects in Nay Pyi Taw, the capital of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. These projects are part of the following projects with total grant assistance of 2.2 billion Yen in order to improve humanitarian and development situation in Rakhine State with the approach of the humanitarian-development nexus, which is strongly advocated by the Government of Japan. UN-Women is expected to sign the Exchange Note separately in the near future.

2 Project Outlines
The Project for Responding to the Humanitarian Situation in Rakhine State
(total grant: 1.1 billion Yen)

Immediately after the incident that occurred at the end of August last year in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, emergency assistance has been implemented by the International Red Cross Committee (ICRC) etc. However, Internally Displaced Persons (according to the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs Adjustment (OCHA), estimated number of Internally Displaced Persons in Rakhine State was 128,420 as of December last year) and local residents require further assistance because they have been living under a prolonged refuge with stagnated economic activities that have been negatively affecting their nutrition, health and sanitation and living environment. It is also expected that once the repatriation of IDPs and those who have fled to Bangladesh (according to the Refugee Assistance Adjustment Group ISCG, about 688,000 people have fled to Bangladesh as of February 11, 2018) commence officially, it will aggravate the difficulties faced by the residents in the state, making it vital to provide humanitarian assistance for food, health and sanitation, living environment and promoting cohesion among communities.

Through World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), this project will provide humanitarian assistance to affected people and communities such as food distribution, child protection, protection of displaced persons, shelter maintenance, child education and health care. By doing so, the project aims to improve regional stability and the humanitarian situation, and contribute to better living conditions for people affected by the incident, school enrollment rate, child protection and psychological care for women and girls etc.

(2) The Project for Inclusive Development and Empowerment of Women in Rakhine State
(total grant: 1.1 billion Yen)

This project, to be implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) will support people who were affected by intercommunal clashes since 2012 and the situation after the 2017 attack on the security forces, provide capacity building for the relevant administrative officials, increase competence for human rights and women’s access to law by strengthening awareness and skills for local communities and legal stakeholders, provide vocational training to encourage economic independence, support development of community infrastructure and provide capacity building for women. Through these activities, the project aims to support the middle and long-term improvement of living conditions in the area, strengthen capacity of administrative officials and contribute to the middle to long-term reconstruction of the communities affected by the incident.