By Byron Mutingwende
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is helping training Zimbabweans to improve their human resources capacities.
Speaking during the JICA Zimbabwe Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Alumni Association (ZIMJFA), Shumon Yoshiara, the JICA country Resident Representative expressed his gratitude for the training offered to Zimbabweans.
“This training is important for human resources development in Zimbabwe and the training programme is one of the most important JICA technical cooperation programmes in the country,” Yoshiara said.
To date, over 1 800 Zimbabweans have benefitted from JICA training programmes in a variety of fields and sectors. This is in line with the Government of Japan’s desire of creating strong human network between Japan and Zimbabwe.
“One of the objectives of ZIMJFA is to expand the effectiveness of JICA training programmes through implementing developmental, social, cultural projects that integrate Japan’s best practices,” Yoshiara said.
Taona Maputire, a JICA Alumni, was nostalgic about visiting Japan since apart from the training, he had witnessed a number of unique developments that he had not seen in Zimbabwe and Africa.
“In 2015, I witnessed for the first time, a bullet train. That country has many skyscrapers and is one of the smartest in the world. I particularly liked Osaka and Tokyo. You can hardly see a cigarette stub on the streets. The Japanese hospitality and tours are impressive and second to none,” Maputire said.
He remembers drinking saki and recounted the day he and his Malawian and Zambian counterparts had on a certain night near Akita University. His tale of the difficulty they had in finding their way back to the hotel because of the similarities of the buildings left delegates amused.
The ZIMJFA membership is open to ex-participants upon fulfilling the requirements as prescribed by the Constitution. Members of the Executive committee hold office for a period of two years and during their term of office, they are expected to plan and implement the attractive activities of the association.
Two women representing the disability and legal sectors were elected into the executive in order to have a balanced representation.