FIDR Foundation for International Development / Relief

2021.12.15

30th Anniversary Ceremony of the establishment of FIDR was conducted

On October 29th, the 30th Anniversary Ceremony of the establishment of FIDR was conducted at Yamazaki Baking Company's Creation Center in Ichikawa city, Chiba prefecture, with the participation of about 250 supporting members, mainly including Corporate Supporting Members.

At the ceremony, after showing the 30th anniversary movie, Mr. Nobuhiro Iijima, Chairperson of FIDR presented the history of our foundation’s establishment and expressed our appreciation for all the supporters. Mr. Iijima also presented Appreciation Letters to the donors, Corporate Supporting members, and supporters who have been contributing to FIDR a lot. The representatives of our supporters gave speeches to congratulate FIDR. They shared some episodes when FIDR was established, how the projects started, as well as their feeling toward FIDR’s activities, and the impression when they visited our targeted countries. The participants also enjoyed a mini-concert after the ceremony.

Because of the spreading of Covid-19, we could invite only a few people to the ceremony. However, Board of Management members as well as staff of FIDR would like to express our deepest appreciation to all of supporters for your contribution and donation during 30 years.

2021.06.30

Activity of installation of "Mother’s Space", a multi-functional sanitary facility for ethnic minorities in mountainous area, received a subsidy from the TOTO Water Environment Fund

TOTO Ltd., with the idea of "solving regional issues related to the water environment together with local people’’, has been conducting subsidy program for NGOs and NPOs that carry out activities rooted in the community to solve the problems surrounding water. In 2021, about 20 organizations active in Japan and overseas were selected as grant recipients. FIDR also received a subsidy for the activity of installation of "Mother’s Space", a sanitary facility for ethnic minorities living in the mountainous area of Kon Tum Province in central Vietnam.

This activity aims to solve the problem of poor hygiene at home and in the region in Kon Tum Province, one of the poorest provinces in Vietnam. Local residents wash their bodies or clothes in the river or well which are far away from their homes, or use the nearby bushes because they don’t have a toilet in their houses. Therefore, people are at high risk of infectious diseases, which is one of the factors behind the high infant mortality rate. In order to solve this problem, we set up "Mother’s Space", a multi-functional sanitary facility including toilet and space for laundry and is made by residents in 4 districts of the province to improve the hygiene environment of households and the communities, as well as promoting hygiene behavior change.

2020.11.30

A video of traditional folk songs of ethnic minorities groups in Central Vietnam has been released!

"Traditional Music of Nam Giang district, Quang Nam Province - Letter to the Future-", a video of a collection of traditional folk songs of Cotu, Gie Trieng and Ve ethnic minorities groups in Central Vietnam, has been released and now available on YouTube (Vietnamese narration with Japanese subtitle).

The video shows not only ethnic minorities’ songs but also traditional musical instruments and costumes, which are very unique and valuable. The themes of songs are diverse such as “Pride of the tribe”, “Dance dedicated to the God”, “Praise of the soldiers who bravely fought in the Vietnam War” and “Lovers’ promises”.
One of the songs was composed to show the gratitude of the people for the FIDR's support, and it encourages the residents to stand up for the community development.

Please click on this link to enjoy the video and subscribe to the YouTube channel!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z9hsQd7H0A

2020.11.17

FIDR was Granted Consultative Status by the United Nations Economic and Social Council

On 24 June 2020, the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UN-ECOSOC) officially granted Special Consultative Status to FIDR. With this consultative status, we can participate in the conferences and events of the UN as well as provide policy recommendations and advice to ECOSOC and the United Nations system.

According to the Article 71 of the UN Charter and ECOSOC resolution 1996/31, this consultative status is granted to only NGOs that have specialized competence and hands-on experience in the working fields of the UN. We have accumulated experiences in various fields such as healthcare, agriculture, food security, nutrition, education, and regional development in developing countries, as well as emergency response and rehabilitation assistance to support the victims in the disaster-hit areas. With the expectation that our knowledge and information derived from such experiences will contribute to the UN, the special consultative status was conferred to FIDR.

It is a great honor for us to be granted this status in the milestone year of our 30th anniversary. At the same time, we are solemnly aware of our obligation as a responsible actor of the international community. We will keep making efforts to actively contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) advocated by the UN, envisioning the world in which “no one will be left behind.”