(Japanese Embassy / 19 Feb ) Japanese Ambassador Ryuichiro Yamazaki and Mayor Alfonso Casurra of Surigao City , signed recently the grant contract for the construction of a residential center for street children in Surigao City at the Ambassador's Residence in Manila.
The project, amounting to more than $ 86,586 (P4,844,486), will be funded through the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) under Japan's Official Development Assistance (ODA), as part of the celebration of this year's 50 th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Japan .
Secretary Esperanza I. Cabral of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) witnessed the ceremony held on February 7.
The City Government of Surigao, through its City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO), has been addressing the increasing number of street children in the area. The CSWDO looks after the physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being of the children while also facilitates their reintegration to their families or referral to existing homes for rehabilitation.
The only existing home in the city can accommodate a limited number of girls.
The Surigao City-managed Center for Street Children is made up of makeshift materials and has limited space causing inconvenience among children and making them vulnerable to sickness.
Under these circumstances, the City Government of Surigao sought assistance from the Embassy of Japan. The Embassy will extend an ODA grant for the construction of a new Center with spacious dormitories that can accommodate 50 children at a time in barangay Anomar.
The facility will also have rooms for counseling, play therapy, dining/kitchen, library, and conduct of training activities. Thus, this project will help in improving the City's services, thereby increasing chances of the children to have functional and productive lives in the long run.
This project is the fifth to be funded by the Embassy's GGP in Mindanao under the present Japanese fiscal year. This manifests Japan 's special concern for human security, protecting individuals and communities from threats to their lives, livelihoods and dignity through empowerment, which most of various assistance schemes under Japan 's ODA focus on.
Japan 's GGP was launched in the Philippines in 1989 for the purpose of reducing poverty and helping various communities engaging in grassroots activities. Since then, 357 grassroots projects amounting up to a total of more than US$13 million (ranging in cost from roughly P 1 to 4 million) have been implemented by NGOs, local government units, and other non-profit organizations.
Overall, this project is expected to contribute to further strengthening the cooperation between the Philippines and Japan . For this year, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has declared 2006 as Philippines-Japan Friendship Year to mark its Golden Jubilee.
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