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Press Conference Marking Start of New Fiscal Year
The Nippon Foundation held a press conference on April 7 to announce its budget and business plan for fiscal 2016 (April 1, 2016, to March 31, 2017). Approximately 70 members of the media attended the press conference, which was held at The Nippon Foundation’s headquarters in Tokyo. Four major initiatives for the new fiscal year were announced: The Nippon Foundation Social Innovation Forum 2016; the establishment of the Japan Center for NPO Evaluation; an agreement with the World Bank for cooperation to support disabled people; and two new leprosy-related activities.
The press conference began with a greeting by Yohei Sasakawa, Chairman of The Nippon Foundation, and the presentation of the Foundation’s budget and business plans for fiscal 2016 by the respective executive directors. The total amount of the fiscal 2016 budget is 44.294 billion yen. The four major initiatives are summarized below.
The Nippon Foundation Social Innovation Forum 2016
As the social issues facing Japan become increasingly complex, a growing number of problems cannot be solved using traditional approaches. The Nippon Foundation is addressing this situation by promoting new concepts and new networks to take a multi-sector approach involving government, companies, NGOs, research institutions, and other organizations.
The Foundation has begun accepting applications nationwide for “social innovators” who will form multi-sector teams with new ideas and clear visions to pursue activities related to social innovation. Ten teams will be selected by July, with each team receiving a grant of up to 10 million yen to cover its activities. Representatives of these teams and other organizations will meet in September at The Nippon Foundation Social Innovation Forum 2016, where they will discuss the issues to be addressed and chart a course going forward. On the last day of the forum, the social innovator showing the most promise for the future will be named a “special social innovator” and receive an additional grant with no pre-set upper limit.
The forum will also feature the announcement of a ranking of 45 countries from around the world, based on the degree to which environments most suitable for social innovation are in place. This project is being carried out in cooperation with the British weekly newspaper The Economist.
Establishment of Japan Center for NPO Evaluation
More than 15 years have passed since the enactment of the Act to Promote Specified Non-Profit Activities, and there are now more than 50,000 nonprofit organizations covered by the law. This number includes organizations that are working to resolve various issues, but also organizations that have no known activities or have been involved in scandals. To bring greater transparency to this situation, a committee chaired by the president of the Japan Association of Charitable Organizations was set up in 2014, and based on the committee’s work, a fund was set up by nonprofit and charitable organizations to establish the Japan Center for NPO Evaluation on April 1, 2016.
For the time being, the center’s work will be limited to evaluating organizations based on 45 criteria covering transparency, accountability, and reliability. Evaluations will initially use documentation only, with on-site evaluations and a certification system being considered for the future.
Agreement with World Bank for cooperation to support disabled people
Since its establishment, The Nippon Foundation has worked to support the independence of disabled people in Japan and around the world, and recognizing this track record, the World Bank has requested the Foundation’s cooperation in a joint project. The two organizations will hold a signing ceremony at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C., on April 14, and the project is expected to include a unique international forum on the theme of disabilities.
Joint Symposium with the Vatican for the Elimination of Leprosy-Related Discrimination, Operation of Leprosy Museums
The Nippon Foundation and the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care will hold an international symposium at the Vatican on June 9-10 on the theme of respect and dignity for people affected by leprosy. The Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care is the equivalent of the Vatican’s ministry of health, and this will be the first time for the Vatican to hold a joint symposium on the subject of leprosy with a Japanese private-sector organization. Each year the Vatican delivers a message in support of people affected by leprosy on World Leprosy Day, and in 2009 a Vatican representative signed The Nippon Foundation’s Global Appeal to End Stigma and Discrimination against People Affected by Leprosy.
The theme of the symposium will be “Comprehensive Care with Dignity and Respect for People Affected by Leprosy.” In addition to representatives of organizations of people affected by leprosy from roughly 10 countries around the world, approximately 200 religious leaders representing faiths including Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism are expected to attend this international symposium that will go beyond the field of religion, and to issue a global message calling for the elimination of leprosy-related discrimination.
The second announcement regarding leprosy-related activities was that The Nippon Foundation will be undertaking the operation of two leprosy-related museums in Japan on behalf of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, from April 1, 2016. The National Hansen’s Disease Museum is located adjacent to the National Sanatorium Tama Zenshoen in western Tokyo, and the Jyu-Kanbo National Museum of Detention for Hansen’s Disease Patients was once a special detention ward of the National Sanatorium Kuriu-Rakusenen in Kusatsu, Gunma Prefecture. As operator of these facilities, the Foundation will work to record and preserve historical documents and artifacts, and increase the number of visitors they receive.
Contact
Communications Department
The Nippon Foundation
