Application for the Grant Assistance for Japanese NGO Project for our second year project was approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOF) at the end of August, and the project started on the 1st of September.

The project is to be carried out as Phase 2 of the project following Phase 1, which took place from September 24, 2013 to July 23, 2014. The duration of the Phase 2 project is approximately ten months starting from September 2014.
 
The project covers the following 157 villages in Ayeyarwady region and Yangon area in Myanmar;
*Ayeyarwady Region: 152 villages
*Yangon suburb : 5 villages

 

The project consists of the following four elements;

• Installation of CA systems
• Enhancement of the CA systems installed between 2008 and 2010, by equipping solar panels,
• ?Conducting workshops (in new villages and in those with already installed CA systems)
• Monitoring of how CA systems are operated in the villages where more than one year has passed since their installation

In the Phase 1 Project, we have received ‘thank you messages’ from many villagers, such as:

“In our coastal and delta area that is plagued by natural disasters such as strong winds, high tides and flooding, it became easy for us to get advanced weather information after the installation of the CA system.

Advance flood information is also very valuable for the villagers for their farming,” or, “Because of the battery capacity, the usable or operational time of the existing CA system was limited, but as a result of its improvement through the use of solar panels, we can now use it for longer hours and it is giving further benefits to our life.

We will promote the Phase 2 project with the goal of enabling the CA system Operation Committee function effectively and independently under the initiative of the village head, and to take responsibilities for the effective use and maintenance of the CA system for years to come, including financial aspects.

Therefore, in order to support and transfer know-how, we plan to hold additional workshops in the area.

Furthermore, in the course of Phase 2 Project, together with other NGOs, we will be seeking the possibility of enabling the systems to play more important roles in the community, so that they will become more valuable assets for the people.

NGO cooperation project in Myanmar
Eiichi Watanabe