Japan donates $300,000 for health and education projects in Ukraine

As an Ukrinform correspondent reports, the ceremony of signing of the grant agreements on human security projects within the framework of the Kusanone program was held at the Embassy of Japan in Ukraine on February 8.

"More than 400 applications were submitted for consideration. We selected four, and these are very high-quality projects: improvement of medical equipment in the healthcare facilities in Dubno [Rivne region], at the Putivl central district hospital of Sumy region, improvement of the sanitary environment at the Kharkiv Regional Center for Palliative Medicine and improvement of the educational environment at the Kulykovo secondary school in Chernihiv region," the Ambassador of Japan to Ukraine Shigeki Sumi said.

He noted that the uniqueness of the Japanese government’s Kusanone program is that the applications for assistance within its framework can be submitted by local communities and the results are felt directly by the community members.

The ambassador noted that this year, apart from the four projects in the first stage of the Kusanone program, eight more projects would be implemented.

Ambassador Shigeki Sumi wished the project executors success and expressed the hope that they understand their responsibility before the communities.

Since 2002, 122 projects worth over $8.76 million have been implemented in Ukraine within the framework of the Kusanone grant program in the areas of health, education, social welfare, environment preservation, culture, sports, and the like. These grants are part of the official development assistance of Japan to Ukraine.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Japan has provided Ukraine with assistance totaling $3.1 billion. In particular, since March 2014, Japan has provided Ukraine with a total of $1.86 billion in financial support to stabilize the situation in the country and stimulate reforms.

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